To Race the Northern Winds
by Jazlynn
Summary: Time is a funny thing. It has a terrible habit of changing things. It can bring both good things and bad things. For Caren, it brings both. So, as the sands of her immortal life run, what will happen? Only time will tell. Sequel to It Started with Lilacs.
1. Part 1

Omgosh! That's right! I'm back with a sequel to _It Started with Lilacs_! I just couldn't get the story of Caren and Mathias out of my head so I figured that I would have to continue. You'll be excited to know that this story is not the end. Oh, no, there is going to be a _third_ part to this story. That's right. You heard me. _A third_. You may also be pleased to know that this story is long. I had to split it into two separate chapters. xD So, I'll stop rambling now. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Mermaid Melody or any of the respective characters. I only own my vampires.

**To Race the Northern Winds**  
_Written by: Jazlynn_

There was a time when running at incredible speeds through a forest in the black of night would seem foreign to me. Yes, it would seem very foreign to most humans and, also, to most mermaids. I didn't think it was even possible for a mermaid to swim as fast as I was running now. The night winds brushed against me as I ran, causing my dark violet hair to whirl violently around my back. My gold eyes were slits as I scanned the wooded area around me, searching desperately for the reason I was out here in the first place.

And then I heard it.

I made a full stop to my fast-paced run and I stood silently, listening intently as to where that steady beat was coming from. Then I picked up on breathing. I stopped the passage of air to my lungs too see if it was only my breath that I heard. Oh, breathing had become treacherous whenever I went out on these… _'midnight runs'_. See, breathing wasn't exactly a necessity of life to me anymore. It was more of a habit than anything.

As I focused on the source of the breathing and that steady heartbeat, I pinpointed an area and began to walk slowly towards it. The sounds that had drawn me here continued to get louder and louder as I approached. I could now detect the scent that went along with the heartbeat; a rose that is late to blossom. How things like that had a scent, I would never fully understand. One just knows these things when they come across it. After all, that's what happened with _him_ when he first saw me. My scent was that of frozen lilacs. Yes, I remembered the scent well. Unfortunately, I was only able to comprehend why he was allured to me once. The only time when I was really able to detect my scent was when I was becoming like him. Since then, I've adjusted to my scent and it doesn't affect me as much. Apparently, I had grown accustomed to my new senses.

The snap of a twig under my foot brought me back to reality and I heard that steady beat rupture. I heard nothing more until the breathing began to get faster. Then I heard the beating start up again. With a lethal smile, I continued through the forest. Oh, how that beat quickened pace! Soon, it was almost as if I could dance to its rhythm! That glorious scent and rhythm just seemed to intoxicate me in the pleasure I would receive from committing this deadly sin.

A feminine voice then called out from the direction I was headed for. "Who's there?"

To me, it sounded like a frightened little twelve year old. Then again, I wasn't good at guessing the ages of people I had only heard. I wasn't even good at guessing the age of people that I had seen. The last time I took a try at that, I was off by a thousand years. I kept quiet as the shy voice spoke once more.

"Nicolas, if that's you, come out right now! First, you break my heart, and now this? Please, just stop!"

I had to stifle a laugh at this. This girl thought that I was her sweet heart who had apparently broken her heart. Perhaps I should just get this done and over with. Slowly, I stepped out of the trees and onto the path that the girl was on. She spun around to face me and her eyes widened in shock. To me, it looked as if she had been crying earlier and rejection was plainly written in her eyes. Now that I saw her, I changed my guess of her age to about fifteen. She looked to be at that age where girls become obsessed with make-up and wearing tight clothes that reveal the new curves of their fully developed bodies. I smiled gingerly at her with a lethal glint in my eyes. _Sorry, I guess I'm not your Nicolas, am I?_

"You there, you said that you just had your heart broken, right?" I asked calmly yet darkly. The girl was trembling but she silently nodded to my question. I let out a small laugh and she just stared fearfully at me. "My, my, how little you know. Your heart isn't broken, my dear. In fact, it's beating up a storm right now."

The girl's eyes widened and my senses tingled. Her scent was compelling me to kill the girl right then and there. My eyes took on a crimson hue and that seemed to make the girl scream in terror. She ran, her movements rather slow compared to mine. As I took off after her, my instinct kicked in.

The next thing I knew, I had the girl pinned to the ground and I was draining the delectable liquid from her neck. The girl screamed for only a moment, but then all went silent. I recalled the first time I had ever drank human blood. It didn't taste as good as it did now. Then again, I was only a mermaid then. It wouldn't ever have the taste that it did now. When I felt no more blood coming from the girl's cold body, I pulled away and looked down at her. A feeling of guilt washed over me. What had I done?

"Indulging in sinful pleasures, are we?"

My scarlet eyes shot over to the shadow of a tree where my absolutely beautiful lover stood, looking as seductive as ever as he gave me a crooked smile. Sinful pleasures; yes, that's what he called drinking human blood. Most newly turned vampires didn't drink human blood until they got more accustomed to vampiric life. I could understand why. The guilt that you felt after killing someone was unbearable. I pulled my eyes away from him and looked back down at the now cold and pale girl in my arms.

"I thought that you didn't like killing humans, Caren." He said softly.

Tears began to fill my eyes and I let the body slip out of my arms. I pulled myself up to my feet and I ran into his embrace. "Oh, Mathias! What have I done?"

Mathias held me close to him and stroked my hair as if that would calm me. I was still crying in hysterics when he began humming to me. It was a melody that he had often hummed to me before. He composed it himself. He made the song shortly after he saw me for the first time. I was his inspiration. In all honesty, I didn't even know that he had a musical gift until he sang for me that first time. He told me that his father had a musical ability but I never pushed the subject. I figured that since he was the King of Vampires, his father must have somehow been killed. I wouldn't have wanted to bring back painful memories. When Mathias spoke to me again, I realized that I still had not stopped crying.

"Caren, this is the third time that you've done this. If you can't stand the guilt of taking human life, then stick to animals for now. I really thought that you would've learned this by now."

I sniffled a little bit and then brought my hand up to dry my eyes. However, Mathias had beaten me to it as he gently stroked his thumb across my cheek. I couldn't help but smile at him. I was so smitten with him that I really didn't know what to do. I felt like a giddy teenaged girl again when, technically, I was an adult. Mathias just seemed to have that effect on me. I had almost forgotten what he had said to me in the first place! So, quickly, I had to make up something to say in my defense.

"It wasn't my fault! I was going out to hunt animals, really, I was! She was just walking by and was all alone as well and I…"

I dragged off and went silent, figuring that Mathias would understand what I meant. He was silent for a while and looked at me sternly. "Then hunt with me next time and I'll see to it that you don't kill any humans. Now stay still. Your lips are covered in blood."

I didn't quite understand what he meant until his lips came crashing down on mine. If my heart could function, it would be beating rapidly right about now. I felt his tongue tracing my lips and I uncontrollable quivered in delight. I had noticed that, overtime, our relationship with one another was becoming more intimate. However, I could still proudly say that I was a virgin princess.

I softly giggled as Mathias moved his mouth away from mine and caressed my neck with his lips. I loved it when he did that. It felt really good and it made me feel special that he would kiss me like that. A tingle shot throughout my whole body as he gently placed kisses along my neck. That feeling of guilt was now non-existent as Mathias held me close to him.

As Mathias kissed me, his hands slowly scaled my body which caused me a lot of surprise. Well, this was new. Apparently he was getting more touchy-feely with me now. Despite the shock from it, I must say, I rather liked it. A grin was permanently plastered on my face as his hands rested on my waist. He laughed softly and the sound just made me want to melt in his arms.

"Perhaps I should stop before you get any ideas." He chuckled.

"But I like it." I whined while I wrapped my arms around him tightly and entwined my fingers into his dark hair.

"I know." He stated bluntly while scooping me up into his arms. "But too much of a good thing can be bad. Miranda, come here for a moment!"

I grinned deviously at Mathias as he spoke to me and I quickly leaned forward to kiss his cheek. When he summoned his servant vampire, my eyes instantly scanned the area for her. Within seconds, I caught a glimpse of blonde in the trees and Miranda was instantly at our side. This was one of the vampires that I had gotten to know quite well in the past few weeks. Miranda was the vampire who had kidnapped me from the Pearl Piari when I was staying with Lucia and Hanon. She was also the vampire who had gotten me dressed and all prettied up for the party that Mathias had created in my favour. I watched her flash a pearly white smile at Mathias and curtsy to show her respect.

"What is it that you wish of me, master?" She asked, eager to do anything that Mathias commanded.

"It would appear that Lady Caren has unintentionally killed a human. I'm bringing her back home right now, else I would have cleaning it up myself. You wouldn't mind lending me a hand, would you?"

"Not at all!" Miranda replied quickly. "You bring Lady Caren home and I shall have this mess cleaned up within a minute."

"Don't go overboard again, Miranda." Mathias warned in a joking manner before taking off through the trees. I couldn't help but giggle at the comment. It was custom to burn a body after feeding so that no humans would be able to know of our existence and, well, Miranda often got carried away when playing with fire. If there was one thing that I had learned about her, it was that she absolutely adored fire. The reason why would forever remain a mystery to me. Fire was supposed to be the only thing that can kill a vampire. Mathias had told me that if a vampire was ever caught within a blaze for too long, their blood would evaporate as well as their souls and nothing would be left except for an empty shell. Just the thought of it made me shudder.

However, I wasn't left to dwell upon it as Mathias and I plunged into the ocean. I instantly transformed into my mermaid form and Mathias' arms were wrapped tightly around my waist. I smiled at him and kissed him before we swam off to the cavern that housed our huge, secluded mansion.

--x--x--x--x--x--x--

It had been about three days since my little… hunting incident. I wasn't good at controlling my instincts yet, so what? At the least, I wouldn't be persuaded to kill anyone, right? I tried desperately to believe that. I was trying my best to live the life of a vampire. I really was. I wanted desperately for Mathias to be pleased with me.

I let out a yawn—something that I had only formed from habit since I couldn't actually sleep. I was out swimming at night again, something that had become more frequent with me since I became a vampire. It gave me more insight as to what was going on with Gaito. I would often find some of his lackeys around and I would try to get more information as to where they had my sister, Noelle.

Oh, Noelle… I just had to find her. I wanted to meet my sister and the only kind of news that I knew about her was that she had been captured. Well, the time was nearing and I would soon be able to save her. Mathias was even willing to help me in this quest. We were both strong enough and, to be honest, we could both easily kill Gaito. That was what I was planning to do after I rescued Noelle. After what he did, he deserved nothing more than death.

I was instantly dragged out of my thoughts as I heard angry voices nearby. I easily recognized the voices. It was the Dark Lovers. Ha. This would certainly be interesting. Silently, I swam towards them and watched silently as they spied on the youngest of their group, Yuuri. Yuuri was reading some letter that… Lucia's dolphin gave her? What was she thinking?! I began to focus more on what the Dark Lovers were talking about. So, they thought that Yuuri was trying to befriend the mermaid princesses in order to trick them and get all the glory for their capture? Well, things obviously weren't going to go down well with this. I had to find Lucia. I had to find out what was going on.

So, as silently as I came, I turned tail and fled to find the pink mermaid princess. It didn't take me long to get to the shore and soon enough, I was back in my human form. I easily caught onto Lucia's scent and I detected Hippo's as well. Oh, so that was it. Lucia was trying to set up Yuuri with Hippo. It all became so obvious to me now! But why would she try to do that? Didn't she realize what a mistake that would be? With a newfound determination, I ran at top speed to intercept Lucia and Hippo. It didn't take much effort at all and I was able to stand in their way. Lucia halted to a stop in front of me and stared in shock.

"C-Caren!" She stuttered.

Well, obviously she hadn't been expecting this. Then again, even I wasn't expecting this. But I was about to show them a piece of my mind about how wrong this was. So, with arms folded over my chest, I began to speak.

"Before, I knew that Yuuri, the sea demon was secretly meeting someone every night," I started while recalling a few times when I had seen Yuuri sneaking around. I didn't think much of it then but now… Trailing out of my thoughts, I continued to speak as I glanced at the small penguin in human form. "…but I never expected it to be Hippo. I even saw Momo delivering a letter to Yuuri and I couldn't believe my eyes. You couldn't be setting up a place for them to meet and run away, could you?"

"Caren, listen! I can explain this!" Lucia cut in, trying to justify what she was doing.  
I glanced at her as if she was stupid. "Lucia, have you forgotten Hippo's true purpose? His purpose is to help us in bringing peace to the waters, reviving Aqua Regina and protecting us, the mermaid princesses."  
Once again, Lucia cut me off in trying to justify her actions. "But, Hippo and Yuuri really do love each other! If we pull those two apart, they may not be able to move on!"

That statement totally set me off on a tangent in my mind. So it was Yuuri and Hippo who deserved a happily ever after? What about my _sister_? Did Lucia even care about what Noelle's predicament was at the moment? And what about Coco, the yellow mermaid princess? Certainly, their freedom was more important than the happiness of two star-crossed lovers!

"So, when the mermaid world is going through a lot of chaos and pain, is it fair if you let only these two have happiness?" I asked with slight irritation in my voice. "If you think I'm wrong and it's fair, go ahead. I can't stop you from it anymore."

"Caren, you are so stubborn!" Lucia declared angrily.

I just watched her with a stern look on my face. I wasn't being stubborn. I was just stating the obvious at how _horrible_ and _stupid_ Lucia's little plan was. I watched her argue with Hippo who sounded as if he might back down after my tirade. However, Lucia got the better of him and they both ran past me. I turned to watched them run off, a look of worry now evident on my face.

"What a crazy thing to do…" I muttered.

So, with a sigh, I turned and began to walk towards my home. Mathias was probably wondering where I was. I usually wasn't out for this long on my own. After all, I had gotten so accustomed to his presence always being there. Perhaps I was just missing him right now. Well, that sounded just about right what with how I've been so emotionally attached to him, lately.

"Caren?"

I stopped dead in my tracks and I was dragged out of my thoughts as I heard a familiar female voice. Standing in front of me were Rina and Hanon. They weren't in on Lucia's little plan as well, were they? Then again, if they were, they would probably be with Lucia and Hippo right now.

"Hey," I replied in greeting, "are you looking for Lucia?"

"Yeah." Hanon nodded.

"She ran off with Hippo so we went out looking for them." Rina added in.

"Well, I saw her and Hippo run off to the shed down by the beach. She's trying to help Hippo and Yuuri run away together." I explained, being sure to tell them what I knew.

Just at that moment, each of our pearls began to emit a purple, green and aqua glow. This often meant that another one of us was in danger and, right now, the only mermaid who could be in any danger right now was Lucia.

I glanced up at Rina and Hanon who both nodded towards me. We all had the same notion in our minds that we had to help our friend. So, with that decided, the three of us took off down the path that led to the beach. I had to pace myself as I ran with Hanon and Rina. I loathed running slow, however, I really didn't have a choice if I was going to keep me being a vampire secret. I just wanted to get this whole ordeal over with so that I could return to Mathias.

In only a matter of minutes, we reached the ocean and were in our mermaid forms. We swam as fast as we could—no, wait. Hanon and Rina swam as fast as they could while I was going insane from my slow pace. Thankfully, it didn't take us long to find Hippo and Lucia. Unfortunately, they were being attacked by the Dark Lovers and Hippo was all tied up in seaweed. I just knew that Hippo meeting with Yuuri would be trouble!

The three of us quickly swam in between Lucia and the Dark Lovers. She looked at us with a surprised yet thankful expression. "Hanon! Caren! Rina! Why are you all here?"

"It's because we found out that Hippo ran away." Hanon explained cheerfully.

"We all thought that he'd most likely be in the shed, so, we went after him." Rina chimed in.

"Also, while I was heading back, I ran into them!" I added in, making it known that I was the one who was the main hero in this situation. After all, I was the strongest out of all of them. Well, not that they knew that, but still.

Lucia seemed to be aglow with happiness at the fact that all of us were here. Taking on a leading tone in her voice, she spoke excitedly to the Dark Lovers. "Alright! Like this, we aren't going to lose to you guys!"

The next moment, the four of us were summoning the power of our pearls and transforming into our diva like forms. This was the first time that I had ever had to sing since I had become a vampire so, I really didn't know what to expect. Thankfully, I still looked the same. Lucia, Hanon and Rina didn't act as if anything about me had changed so, that was good.

However, when we began to sing, I noticed something about my voice. I knew before that I didn't have the best singing voice, but now… my voice was absolutely incredible! I was shocked that my transformation had affected the quality of my voice as well! I suppose that meant that every talent that I possessed was somehow enhanced. I didn't mind though. However, I had to try my best to blend in with the voices of my other three companions. This was something that they would certainly take notice of later.

As we sang, the Dark Lovers screamed out in pain from the effect that our song had on them. I realized how much I _hated_ their voices. They were loud and obnoxious. I truly hoped that they would leave soon. Trying to distract myself from them, I glanced over at Hippo and noticed that the seaweed was loosening around him because of our voices. That was good, at least.

Finally, our song ended and the Dark Lovers left in disgust that they had failed once again. It was pathetic, really. They could _never_ capture us. However, they didn't matter at the moment. Right now, all attention was on Hippo who was seemingly unconscious. Lucia quickly took a hold of Hippo and all of us swam to the surface. We didn't change back into our mermaid forms due to the fact that Yuuri was tagging along. I found it interesting that she would still stick around after what happened. Perhaps she really did love Hippo and I was mistaken in my earlier thoughts.

When we reached the beach, Hippo was laid on the sand and Lucia was trying to wake him up. Lucia, Hanon, Rina and I were all gathered around while Yuuri stood a bit further away from our group. Eventually, Hippo awoke and slowly sat up.

"Hippo! Hippo, are you alright?" Lucia asked worriedly.

"Yes. I-I'm okay." Hippo replied quietly. He looked up and his beautiful yellow eyes fell upon Yuuri. "Yuuri…"

I watched in awed silence as Yuuri slowly approached Hippo. It amazed me that she was still here even with her enemies standing around. She really must have been devoted to him. But if that was the case, why did she still dwell with Gaito? If she truly loved Hippo, then she would help us and assist in rescuing my sister! Subduing my thoughts for now, I listened as the young sea demon began to speak.

"Oh, Hippo, I'm so sorry that this happened! Even so, I wasn't lying! Please believe me, Hippo!"

I must say, as much as I disliked Gaito's servants, I was slightly appalled by Hippo's actions. As Yuuri reached out to him, he slapped her hand away and began to speak in a low voice.

"I don't want to hear what you say anymore." Hippo started. Yuuri withdrew in shock. Obviously though, Hippo wasn't done talking. "You lied to me just to use me as bait to lure out the mermaid princesses. You're a very bad person!"

"Hippo, what are you trying to say?" Yuuri cried out.

Hippo then stood up to look Yuuri in the eyes. "I don't want to see you or your face anymore! I don't ever want you to appear in front of me ever again!"

"What are you doing Hippo?! Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?" Lucia asked while placing a hand on Hippo's shoulder.

I could see the tears forming in Yuuri's eyes and I looked over at Hippo. I saw the flicker of pain in his eyes as he saw the tears in Yuuri's eyes. This was something that I highly doubted that anyone else could see. The penguin jerked away from Lucia and took of down the beach. I understood now. I understood Hippo's harsh words.

"Hippo!" Lucia cried out.

She was about to go after him but I felt the need to stop her. I now understood the actions he was taking. "Just a minute."

Lucia turned to look at me as if I was crazy for doing such a thing. "Caren?"

"Hippo is already aware of the truth that Yuuri was not lying to him." I explained. Lucia decided to interrupt me, something that she had been doing all night when I tried to speak to her.

"Then why?!" She demanded.

I breathed in deeply, hoping that she wouldn't continue to further question me. "Hippo has decided to give up on his love."

"But, _why?!_" She demanded again.

"He doesn't want to give us anymore trouble." I said simply.

It was then that Yuuri cut in to save me from having Lucia ask more unnecessary questions. "Umm… I want to ask you all a favour. Please, tell Hippo this. Tell him that I won't come to him again so that he may be at peace."

Lucia turned to face Yuuri who looked like the tears in her eyes were about to fall over and spill down her face. "Yuuri…"

"I love Hippo, but, because of what happened today, I don't know what is going to happen if the event that happened today reoccurs. Since I love him so much, I don't want to give him anymore trouble. So… just tell him that I love him from the bottom of my heart, as much as I possibly can."

All of us watched as Yuuri turned and headed back towards the ocean. Hippo came running back in his penguin form and watched in tears as Yuuri left. I watched Lucia go to speak with Hippo and I became enthralled within my own thoughts. For some sick reason, I was glad that this was happening to Yuuri and Hippo. This would never happen to Mathias and I. We were so perfect together that nothing bad could happen like this.

When Yuuri was out of sight and within the ocean, Hippo turned and ran off. I watched him go, figuring that he had a lot of emotions to get out of his system. I felt terrible for him. He had been plagued with a forbidden love. And speaking of love, I had to get home to my one and only love, Mathias. So, I changed by into my normal 'human' form and began to walk away.

"Caren, wait! Where are you going?" Lucia asked quickly.

"Home." I replied curtly.

"Hold on, Caren. I noticed something earlier." Rina quickly said before I had the chance to walk away.

I turned to look at the green mermaid princess with a questioning look. She must have noticed my improved voice. Quickly, I came up with a decent answer for it in my mind so that I would be ready.

"Earlier when we were singing," she began, "your eyes were flickering between purple and the liquid gold colour that your eyes are now. Now that I think of it, your eyes have never even been that light before. I also noticed that your voice has drastically improved. Care to explain what's been going on with you?"

I stared at her. Okay, so maybe I wasn't quite normal when singing. I had only noticed my voice. I had no idea that my eyes kept changing colour. That would be difficult to explain. It might also be difficult to explain why my eyes were lighter now. However, I would just have to my best and improvise.

"Nothing has been going on with me." I stated in my defense. "My eyes have always been this colour in my human form. As for my voice, there is such thing as practice. You must have been hallucinating when you saw my eyes change colour. I doubt that it could be possible for my eyes to do that."

"Then I must have been hallucinating too." Hanon stated calmly.

I looked over at the blue haired girl in disbelieve. She noticed as well? This wasn't turning out very good. I couldn't exactly tell them that I was a vampire. It was Mathias' number one rule that no one could tell a human (or mermaid, in this case) that they were a vampire. Not to mention that they wouldn't believe me even if I had told them. Lucia's voice dragged me out of my thoughts as I tried to come up with a decent explanation.

"You know, Caren, ever since that incident about you having some guy following you around, there's definitely been some change in you."

When Lucia mentioned Mathias, my mouth spoke faster than my mind was able to register what I was saying. "What exactly are you talking about? Just to let you know, I already confronted him and got the whole issue dealt with. He has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that my eyes change colours when I sing. Personally, I wasn't even aware of it until you said something."

With that, I stormed off, ignoring them to tell me to stop. I had to slow my pace because I was walking too fast. Hopefully they hadn't noticed my speed. Eventually, I was out of their sight and I let out a long sigh. Wow. I was such a liar. So Mathias had absolutely nothing to do with my eyes changing colour? _Riiight_. He was only the one who turned me into a vampire in the first place. Of course it wasn't his fault!

The moment that I reached the oceans edge for a second time that night, I leapt into the water and made my way home. Usually, home was the Antarctic Ocean but, now, it was wherever Mathias was. He was home to me. I swam for what seemed to be quite a while before I came upon the small crevice that led to the cavern that housed Mathias' mansion. I quickly swam into it, twisting and turning around the little corners. Eventually, I came into a clearing. I was in the first chamber of two caverns—the cavern where I saw Mathias for the first time. I didn't go up to the surface but, instead, swam around the small island in the middle of the cavern and headed into another passage which led to the second cavern.

At the end of this passage, I surfaced in a small pool of water in the middle of the glowing lilac forest. The blossoms looked truly amazing in their frozen splendor. They also reminded me of the night when I was turned. I ran through this forest expecting that I was outside of Mathias' mansion and could escape when I discovered that the area was completely closed in. Little did I know at the time that this pool of water was the exit itself and that I could have easily escaped. I felt a fool now thinking back on that. Well, I was a vampire now so, it no longer mattered.

Quickly, I pulled myself out of the water and I transformed back into my human-like form. I then headed for Mathias' room. I had a feeling that he might be there and I wasn't usually wrong. When I reached the beautifully decorated ochre doors, I pushed them open and made my climb up the spiraling staircase. When I reached the top, I pushed open the second set of doors to enter Mathias' room. He was there, lying on his bed and looking like the most perfect angel. He feigned sleep which made him look even more angelic. I smiled at him and walked over to the side of his bed. I took no hesitation in lying down beside him and cuddling close to him. His arms immediately wrapped around me and pulled me closer to him.

"You've kept me waiting, Caren." He whispered softly. "I was beginning to worry."

I buried my face into his chest and breathed in his sweet scent. "I'm sorry. I ran into a few friends of mine that seem to constantly get into trouble."

He hummed gently while stroking my hair. "I see… so, when are we going to rescue your sister? I would very much like to meet the family of the woman who I will be spending eternity with."

I smiled at him, even though he wasn't able to see my face. "I want to meet her too. Hopefully we will be able to rescue her soon."

Mathias slightly pulled away from me and looked at me with an expression of confusion. "You… want to _meet_ her too? You mean that you never met your own sister?"

I slowly shook my head. "We were separated when I was born. Noelle is the mermaid princess of the Arctic Ocean and I'm the mermaid princess of the Antarctic Ocean. We've had to dwell within our own kingdoms so…"

"So you've never had the chance to meet." Mathias finished for me.

"Yes." I said softly. "I only heard of her capture by rumor and I've been searching all over for her. However… she's within a castle that is constantly moving so I can never get even close to finding her!"

"Hmm… that is a problem, isn't it?" Mathias mused quietly while pulling me close to him.

I hummed softly in response and closed my eyes. I felt so safe being there in his arms. Gaito would never get me when I was here. Mathias softly hummed a beautiful melody to me and, if I could sleep, it probably would have lulled me off into my subconscious.

Just then, Miranda burst through the door with a look of worry evident all over her face. Mathias and I both sat up in shock. Miranda never entered Mathias' room unless summoned. I noticed that she held an envelope in her hand but the main thing that I noticed, and Mathias as well, was that there was another vampire standing behind her. I heard a low growl emanate from Mathias and the vampire behind Miranda flinched. I began to feel very scared for some reason. Something wasn't right.

"What is _he_ doing here?" Mathias demanded in a low and angry voice.

Mathias' eyes were dark and they held no emotion or any kind of caring that they did before. I didn't dare move for the fear of what Mathias might do. He looked ready to kill someone. Slowly, my eyes wandered over to Miranda who held out the letter to him. In less than a second, Mathias was off of his bed and had snatched the letter from Miranda's hand. He then glared icy daggers at the other vampire.

"I suggest that you leave _now_." He said venomously through clenched teeth. "Miranda, assist him _out_ of my mansion."

Miranda silently nodded before leading the vampire away. Mathias quickly shut the doors behind them. Then, without turning back to me, he tore open the envelope and began to read what was on the sheets of paper within. I just watched in fear as his eyes became darker with every word that he read. I didn't even think that it was possible for his eyes to look so dark. It absolutely terrified me. I felt as if I was a human again, being pursued by the mysterious and nameless vampire that used to haunt me. I lingered in indecision about whether or not I should say something to him.

"Mathias…?" I slowly spoke to try and get his attention. I wasn't expecting the reaction that I received.

"Silence!" He yelled angrily while turning to glare daggers at me.

I flinched and felt myself withdraw as far from him as I could. He terrified me. The term 'If looks could kill' popped into my mind. Yes, I seriously thought that Mathias was going to kill me when he looked at me that way. I just wanted to turn invisible. I hated this! Maybe he didn't want me around right now. I should probably just let him be on his own for a while. So, with that thought running in my head, I slowly slid off of his bed and headed silently for the door.

As I neared the door, his head jerked up and his eyes went wide. Instantly, he seized me and then had me pinned on his bed. He straddled my figure and had his hands gripping my wrists tightly while looking down angrily at me. I was frozen in place by him and mainly by my fear. His grip was getting tighter to the point where my wrists were beginning to hurt. I let out a small cry but that didn't loosen his grip on me. Why did Miranda have to come in? Why?

"Mathias," I shouted out, "you're hurting me!"

Tears began to stream down my face and I heard him growling. What was wrong? Why was Mathias acting this way? I had never seen him so worked up like this before! Terror flooded throughout my body and I wanted to get away from him. Apparently, I had come home too soon. Then again, if I had come back when he was like this… I didn't even want to think about it. He might have been even angrier at me than he was now. I didn't even understand why he was so mad at me in the first place! The pain in my wrists was becoming more unbearable and I let out another cry.

"Shut up, Caren!" He hissed. "Don't move!"

My eyes went wide and I became deathly silent. Mathias had just told me to shut up after he was causing me pain. My eyes were filled with tears and that picturesque image of Mathias and I had been shattered into a thousand pieces. As Mathias looked down at me, his expression softened and his grip loosened. Then, something happened that I didn't expect. Mathias started to cry. He pulled me up into his arms and held me tightly as if he would lose me forever if he let go. I felt so broken and confused and Mathias' actions only confused me even more. One moment, I was absolutely terrified of him and then, the next, I felt comforted. I was going on one hell of a rollercoaster ride of emotions with Mathias. Only, there were so many loops and turns happening so quickly that I couldn't register what was happening or what would happen next.

I let Mathias hold me for a long time and, eventually, I gathered enough courage to softly press my lips against his. He greatly accepted my actions and returned the favour by pulling me even closer to him. I was beginning to wonder what exactly was on that letter that had caused such a dramatic change with Mathias. It was causing him some sort of internal conflict that was making him quite upset. I didn't like it. I wanted Mathias to be happy. How could we ever hope to be that perfect couple if he wasn't happy?

--x--x--x--x--x--x--

It had been almost a week since Mathias had received that letter from our unexpected guest. Since then, he seemed to move around like a ghost instead of a proud vampire and he rarely ever spoke to me. Now, whenever we were together, he would just hold me as if he never wanted to let me go. It almost scared me in a way. I didn't like the actions that he was taking. It was almost as if there was some impending doom looming over our lives as we knew it. Miranda also became more silent within that week. I got the feeling that she had been able to read whatever was in that letter. However, I was the only one kept out of this little secret that they kept. I wanted to know what was wrong.

I let out a soft sigh as Mathias and I walked along a path near the beach. Apparently, I wasn't allowed to leave the mansion without an escort anymore. I was almost always accompanied by Mathias and, on the rare occasion when he was out hunting without me, Miranda would follow me around. It was as if I no longer had any freedom. I at least had that before I became a vampire. All I had now was silence. It was beginning to drive me insane.

I abruptly stopped walking which completely threw off Mathias. He turned to look at me with curious golden eyes. Again, he didn't speak to me. I just stared at him with a distant look in my eyes. Neither of us said a word to each other. We just stood there, looking at the other. We could have stayed like that for eternity and nothing would have happened. Hell, people could just walk by and give us odd looks and we wouldn't have noticed them. I hated the fact that Mathias wasn't speaking. I wanted him to say something to me! I wanted to hear his beautiful voice! I then realized that Mathias' expression had changed. His eyes slightly widened and he looked worried about something now.

"Caren," he started, worry completely evident in his voice, "what's wrong?"

I didn't understand what he was talking about. Why would he just come out and say that after looking at me with a blank expression for what seemed like an eternity to me. And why would his expression all of a sudden turn worried? It didn't make sense. I only understood why he said that when he reached out to wipe some sort of moisture from my cheeks. I was… crying? Stupid traitorous tears! The moment I realized that I was crying, more tears fell from my eyes and I couldn't stop them. Mathias pulled me into a tight embrace.

"Caren, what's wrong?" He pleaded. "Please, talk to me!"

He wanted me to talk to him? He was asking _me_ to talk to _him_ about _what was wrong?_ I wanted _him_ to talk to _me_ about what was wrong! That's what was wrong with me! Why couldn't he understand that? Did he honestly think that I would enjoy being plunged into silence?

"Mathias, I don't understand!" I blurted out. He looked at me with confused—and perhaps, even hurt eyes. I looked at him with great sadness. "You're asking me what's wrong when there is something going on with you that you refuse to talk to me about! How is that supposed to make me feel Mathias? I hate all of this silence! Just tell me what's going on."

I heard Mathias let out a long and sad sigh. "Caren… It's a very complicated issue. I would rather not have you dragged into it. There are those who would not support you being what you are. Half-vampires are frowned upon by most Night Dwellers. Because of this, I… I just want to keep you safe."

Something inside of me snapped and I had no idea why. My mind couldn't even register what was happening. "You want to keep me safe by not telling me something that seems to be very important? I don't see how keeping me oblivious to everything is going to help me! Shouldn't I be told what's dangerous instead of blindly walking right into it?!"

With that, I ran off at top speed. I heard Mathias call out my name but he didn't follow me. I felt as if my new life was beginning to suffocate me. I needed some familiarity. I needed something that wasn't going to cause me pain. I was at the ocean's side within a matter of seconds and I dove into the cool dark waters. My body shifted back into its mermaid state and I felt instantly calmed. Yes, the ocean was a very familiar thing. It reminded me of a time when I didn't think that vampires were real. It reminded me of a time when all I worried about was rescuing Noelle. Perhaps rescuing her would help me to forget about all of the bad things that were occurring in my life.

I tried to temporarily push the thoughts of Mathias out of my head as I swam. Then something caught my eyes. There was a strange golden glow in the water. I stopped swimming to watch it in the distance. It seemed to be moving which made me even more confused. What was it?

So, with that, I headed towards the light. As far as I knew, there weren't many sources of light within the ocean. As I got closer, I noticed a human form within the glow. But how could that possibly be? And then I saw them. Lucia, Hanon, and Rina were swimming after the human. Quickly, I made my way over to their side.

"So it's you guys." I stated, somewhat in greeting.

The three looked at me and seemed to say my name in unison. Really, was it that surprising for me to just appear like that? I didn't think so. Well, I figured that I should explain myself to them. "I saw a very mysterious light just now so I came to look. What exactly is it?"

"That light…" Rina started, only to be cut off by Lucia.

"We aren't really sure what it is."

I hummed in response and the four of us continued after the human. As I observed him more closely, I began to recognize him. I had seen this human before. He kept following me around and staring at me only to have mistaken me for someone else. That seemed like such a long time ago. It was before I had even formally met Lucia, Hanon, and Rina. Well, I guess it wasn't all too formal at all. I was kind of a witch towards Rina at that point. Now, I could really care less.

Suddenly, my attention was drawn to the dramatic change in scenery. There was a huge gate that appeared, and behind it, Gaito's castle. A black mermaid was swimming towards the gate to meet the human. However, my mind set wasn't focused on her.

"Gaito's castle is actually here?" I asked Lucia, Hanon and Rina, still in somewhat disbelief.

I heard Hanon mumble something about a 'Taro' but I paid no attention to it. Gaito's castle was here. My sister was somewhere behind those walls. I could rescue her right now. It wouldn't have taken me much to kill the black mermaid and get through the gates. Then with my quick speed, I could quickly get into the castle and evade any of the water demons. They wouldn't have seen me coming. Then I could kill Gaito and free Noelle! Yes! I could do it!

My planning was immediately cut off as Hanon swam towards the human known as Taro. However, when she got close to him, some sort of barrier came up and pushed her back. She let out a shrill cry before she flew back into Lucia, Rina, and I. I couldn't comprehend what was being said in the moment that followed and soon, the four of us were being enveloped in a thick black mist.

"What's happening?" I demanded as I tried to see through the black mist. Even with my vampiric eyes, seeing through the thick haze was nearly impossible.

From somewhere in the darkness, I heard Rina exclaim that the gate was open. This was just wonderful. My chance to save my sister had come and I was blinded by a black mist! I couldn't believe it! I wanted to scream out in frustration but I knew that screaming would do no good. When the mist cleared, I was disgusted to see that the Black Beauty Sisters had arrived on the scene. Well, this was just peachy keen.

Without time for us to react, they began their dark song. As their voices drifted through the water, I felt a jolt of pain run through my head. Instantly, my hands flew up to hold my head as if that would stop the throbbing feeling that I now had. With each note sung, the pain became more intense. It was a terrible feeling. They were hitting every note with accurate precision but, to me, it sounded like nails on a chalkboard.

An intense light suddenly distracted me from the pain and I looked to find that Hippo had transformed into a magnificent horse-like creature. Something clicked in my mind then.

"That is…" Rina started.

"Is that…" Hanon started as well.

Neither of them could finish what they were trying to say so I decided to voice it for them. "The legendary Hippocampus!"

"Hippo is actually the legendary Hippocampus?" Lucia restated in disbelief.

The four of us listened as he explained his situation. So, this was his true form; the form in which he could protect the mermaid princesses. It was unbelievable, really. This was Hippo; the lovesick penguin that had fallen for one of the bad guys. As if to prove his powers, Hippo swam towards the Black Beauty Sisters and destroyed their live stage.

Lucia, Hanon and Rina began to transform but I stayed as I was. I wasn't going to risk having my eyes change colour again. Besides, those three would be fine on their own. This was also my chance to get into Gaito's castle. I wasn't about to let that one slip. So, my eyes began to scan the area. For some reason, I couldn't find the castle. Where was it? I felt my heart fall as I realized the situation. It had moved again and that small window of oppouritunity had shut right in front of my face. I couldn't believe it!

Soon, Lucia, Hanon and Rina's song ended and the Black Beauty Sisters had left. Rina stated what I had already realized and it only made me feel even more upset. Another chance to rescue Noelle; gone.

Hanon began calling out for Taro. I watched her in stunned silence. Why was she calling out to him? He was gone. He wouldn't be able to hear her. She was simply making a fool out of herself.

"Hanon," I started, waiting for her to acknowledge me. "Hanon, he's gone. There's nothing you can do."

"No!" Hanon cried out. "I'll find him!"

Hanon began to swim off but Lucia and Rina stopped her. I couldn't understand why she wouldn't just accept the truth. It would be so much easier than making some false pretense. I watched as tears began to stream down Hanon's face. I let out a small sigh.

"I truly am sorry for your loss, Hanon, but, sometimes you just need to wake up to reality. Life isn't fair. But there's still a chance to save him. Have faith."

Hanon just stared at me, not speaking a word as tears still streamed down her face. I turned to Rina and Lucia then. "I should probably be going now but, I'll come by in the morning so that we can sort things out."

The two nodded at me and I then took my leave. I still couldn't understand why Hanon had to get so upset. As long as there was hope enough for me to save Noelle, there was still hope for her to rescue Taro.

--x--x--x--x--x--x--

I returned home in complete silence and dread. I wasn't sure as to how Mathias would act after I ran away from him. He would probably be angry. I wasn't looking forward to that. Mathias terrified me when he was angry. However, I knew that I would have to face him eventually. It was better to just get it over with than to wait in dread.

As I emerged in the lilac forest, something didn't seem right. It felt… empty. I looked around in silence. Neither Mathias or Miranda were ever in the forest when I returned so, it was expected that it should be empty. However, something still felt like it was missing. I figured that Mathias would be in his room, so I headed down the path that led to the ochre doors. As I ascended the steps, a feeling of uneasiness washed over my entire being. I didn't understand why. Perhaps it was because of the same reason that I felt something was amiss. I entered Mathias' room to find that he wasn't there. I frowned, and then headed back towards the main part of the mansion.

As I walked, I didn't hear anything. I still couldn't feel Mathias' presence anywhere so I figured that he might still be outside. As I walked, I heard something that indicated the presence of another; the flipping of a page in a book. Quickly, I ran to the source of the sound to find Miranda reading a book in the library. She seemed distracted by something and I didn't understand why. Her gold eyes flickered up to me and she forced a smile.

"Evening, Lady Caren." She greeted through a feigned cheerfulness.

"Good evening, Miranda." I said in reply. "Where is Mathias?"

"He left." She said simply before looking back at her book.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" I was thoroughly confused by her statement. I thought I heard that she said that Mathias had left.

Miranda looked back up at me as if I was stupid or something and then her eyes widened in shock. "My god, he didn't tell you, did he?"

I looked at her in confusion as a tight knot formed in my stomach. "What… didn't he tell me?"

The book fell out of Miranda's hands and she instantly got up to embrace me. I felt so confused as she wrapped her arms around me. I heard her crying and I knew that what she said was true. Mathias was gone. He went somewhere while I went to go help out Lucia, Hanon and Rina. This had been our last night together and I decided to be stupid and run away. I felt completely broken. All of a sudden, I was wishing that Mathias was here. I wished that I could have apologized to him about running away. But more than anything, I just wished that I could've known he was leaving so that I could've at least said goodbye.

Suddenly, I jerked away from Miranda and I booked it out of the library as fast as I could. I could feel the tears streaming down my face as I ran. Mathias couldn't be gone. He just couldn't! I exited the main part of the mansion and I ran to the pool of water to leave the cavern. I twisted through all of the turns until I was out in open water and I then headed for the surface. The moment I felt air against my face, I cried out Mathias' name.

Lightning and thunder cracked in the sky above me and rain poured down hard onto the ocean's surface to create frightening waves. Despite the weather, I continued to shout out Mathias' name as if my voice might somehow reach him. He had to come back. He had to! I couldn't live without him! He was like my oxygen!

My tears mixed with the rain as they streamed down my face. I wanted him back. He had to come back. Feeling rather defeated, I looked around to find a small rocky island that was situated atop of the caverns that housed Mathias' mansion. I swam over to it and pulled myself up onto it. I just laid there on the ground, crying into my arms with my tail hanging over the edge in the stormy waters. This wasn't fair. Why did Mathias have to leave? He could have stayed. I wanted him to be here with me.

I glanced back up at the flashing sky and I called out for Mathias again. This wasn't fair! The words that I had spoken to Hanon earlier suddenly came back into my mind and they made me shudder. _He's gone. There's nothing you can do. Sometimes you just need to wake up to reality. Life isn't fair._ Wow. Karma just came back to kick me in the ass. It hurt like hell. I now understood Hanon's pain. I understood why she kept calling for him. Hope was all that she had. She had hope that there might be a chance, however small it was. I would really have to apologize to her tomorrow.

As another bolt of lightning cracked, I slid back into the ocean and made my way back to Mathias' mansion. It no longer felt like home there. My home left me. However, the mansion was still the place that I had been living in for quite a while now. It was just habit to go back to.

When I entered the lilac forest, I walked solemnly towards Mathias' room. Maybe there was a chance that he had come back, despite how empty the cavern felt. I made my way up the spiraling staircase and entered Mathias' room to find that it was empty. My heart felt as if it was literally aching and more tears began to stream down my face. I let myself fall onto his bed and I wrapped the blankets around me tightly. However, the fabric was nothing in comparison to Mathias' embrace.

In all honesty, I couldn't believe it. My life went from heaven to hell in a day. It was one of the worst feelings that I had ever felt in my entire life. Even worse than when I found out that Noelle had been captured. She was all that I really had left now. I had to rescue her. And soon.

--x--x--x--x--x--x--

Somehow, the night ended and I had made it through the pain. Although my non-beating heart still ached, it was easier to deal with now. I doubted that there would be any chance of me crying because I truly believed that there were no more tears left in me to cry. I simply had to face the fact that Mathias was gone. I may not ever see him again. Oh, that was a thought that made me ache terribly inside. I didn't want to accept the awful truth.

I tried to push the thoughts of Mathias out of my mind as conversation between Lucia, Rina, Hanon, Hippo and Nikora went on around me. Hippo was speaking about his past and how he was commanded by Aqua Regina to protect the key to the Panthalessa, or rather Gaito's castle, and how the key had been stolen from him.

"So, it could be that the person who took the key is from the castle. I never would've guessed that it was the Mermaid Princess from the Indian Ocean, Sara." I stated while reflecting on what was being talked about as if I had been focusing on their conversation completely.

"And not only that, Hippo is actually the legendary Hippocampus." Rina added in also.

"Yeah, it scared me." Lucia chimed in.

"Well, because the key was stolen, I couldn't turn into my Hippocampus form." Hippo explained further.

"But since the key has been returned to us," Rina began, "shouldn't we be able to lock Gaito's castle again?"

"It's no use." Hippo replied. "The power of the Panthalessa clan is too powerful. If we want to stop them, we need to revive Aqua Regina and use her power to stop them."

As Hippo explained the situation, my eyes were subtly focused on Hanon. I wasn't sure how she was taking this information especially since she had Taro taken away from her. It must've been killing her to just stand there and listen about the situation. It hurt me to even think Mathias' name so, she must've been suffering. I watched as her body became tenser until she finally decided to say something.

"Hippo, how were you so careless as to let them take the key? If you were careful and watched over the key, it wouldn't be like this now!" She yelled out before lowering to her knees and taking hold of Hippo. "The peace of the marine world wouldn't have been destroyed! If it wasn't for you, Taro would never have been taken to Gaito's castle! Hippo, give me back Taro! Give him back! Give him back!"

I watched in stunned silence as Hanon shook the small penguin as anger surged throughout her body. I completely understood how she felt. She wanted someone to blame for her sorrow. She wanted to be angry because it felt alright to be angry. The same thoughts and feeling were going on within my own body. The only difference was that I really had no one to blame. Mathias simply left.

"Hey, Hanon," Rina started gently as to try and calm the aquamarine mermaid, "even though it's like this, you can't blame it all on Hippo."

Hanon simply shook with anger before getting up and running off. She managed to let out one bitter remark. "Hippo, you're an idiot!"

I quickly ran after her. No one would make anything of it anyways. I followed Hanon out to the back of the Pearl Piari and found her screaming out loudly. With a sigh, I walked up beside her and let out a scream myself. Hanon stopped and looked at me in shock.

"Caren?"

I turned to her and smiled for the first time in a long time. "It feels good to let out some of that pent up rage, doesn't it?"

She still seemed slightly shocked. "But why do you feel you have to scream out like that?"

I grinned widely at Hanon's question. I knew exactly how to answer that one. "Because karma is a bitch and it has a terrible habit of coming back to kick you in the ass."

I watched Hanon's expression turn into utter confusion. I was slightly shocked to find Miranda off in the distance looking at me worriedly. I couldn't prevent what happened next. I laughed. I laughed like I have never laughed before. Hanon was still looking at me strangely but eventually, she began to giggle too. Miranda must've thought that we were both on crack. Then again, Hanon and I were suffering from emotional trauma and we deserved to act somewhat insane.

When I thought that I was regaining my composure, I broke out into another fit of laughter. I really couldn't stop myself. Was this the fate of vampires? To be driven insane by the trauma we go through? Well, that must've been the reason why most vampires in the movies acted kind of psychotic. I finally understood it now!

Through my giggles, I managed to get a hold myself long enough to speak. "Hanon, I must say that I am truly sorry for what I said to you yesterday. I didn't understand how painful it must've been for you to watch as the person you love was taken away. Right after I left you guys, I discovered that someone I hold very dear to me decided to leave without saying anything. Now, I may not have a chance at ever seeing him again but, I still have my sister. As long as I still have the chance at rescuing her—which I will—you definitely still have the chance to rescue your Taro."

Hanon smiled. "Thank you, Caren. You're right. There is still a chance. I guess that's all I really needed to hear."

I returned the smile before I heard Miranda ask exactly what I was doing. Hanon wouldn't have been able to hear her but I did. "Well, first thing it first, we need to find Gaito's castle. Then we can rescue Noelle and Taro. However, I've got some things to do now so, I'll catch up with you, Lucia and Rina later."

"Alright." Hanon replied softly before she snuck a glance at the ocean. "I'll see you later then."

I nodded once before walking out to the front of the Pearl Piari. I saw Miranda a few blocks away waiting for me, so I ran, at a human pace unfortunately, to go meet her. She looked at me seriously before speaking.

"Lady Caren, you almost mentioned our kind to that girl." She stated as-a-matter-of-factly to me.

"Actually, I subtly mentioned Mathias and that was it. However, speaking to Hanon has got me motivated. Where is Mathias? I'm going to look for him after I rescue my sister."

Miranda breathed in sharply as if she was lingering in indecision about telling me. "Lady Caren, it's a complicated situation."

"Complicated?" I repeated, attempting to get more information from her.

"Aye. There are many… rules among our kind and, well, Mathias decided to break one of them. It's placed you in terrible danger, love." She explained solemnly. "He left to go sort things out with his father. He doesn't want history to repeat itself."

It took me a moment to register all that Miranda was saying. Mathias left because a decision that he had made placed me in danger and he was going to sort things out with his _father_? I thought that his father had somehow been killed! My mind was reeling.

"B-but, isn't Mathias the king of vampires? How can that be if…" My voice trailed off leaving me still in disbelief.

"How can that be if Mathias' father is still alive?" Miranda finished for me. "Although Mathias is considered to be a king among our kind, his father has taken on a higher position. He considers himself to be a demigod that has ultimate rule over everything that goes on within our world."

I simply stared at her in disbelief as she spoke, still trying to register everything that she was saying. This was becoming so much more complicated than I originally thought. No wonder Mathias wanted to keep this from me. Still, I couldn't help but wonder why exactly I was in danger. I wasn't able to say anything before Miranda spoke again.

"Lady Caren, I want to request something of you." She said quietly.

"Sure, okay, what is it?" I replied awkwardly.

"After you rescue your sister, don't look for Mathias. I would advise going back to the Antarctic Ocean and staying there. When things have calmed down in our world, I will tell Mathias where you are and he'll come to you. Just don't go looking for him. I cannot bear to watch him suffer again if something should happen to you, love."

Miranda became silent and I knew that she would say no more. Her words terrified me. They made me want to obey her words, to follow through with what I promised to before even hearing what she would request. It reminded me that there were creatures more terrifying than what I had only seen in my nightmares long ago. It reminded me of what Mathias had told me once before. _Half-vampires are frowned upon by most Night Dwellers. Because of this, I… I just want to keep you safe_. I was a half-vampire and that was why I was in danger.

"If I follow through with what you said and go back to my kingdom," I started, voicing one of my worries, "how will Mathias know where to go? He only knows that my kingdom is within the Antarctic Ocean."

"He knows, Lady Caren." Miranda stated quietly. Her voice then became very quiet and I had to strain to hear what she said next. "He's been there before."


	2. Part 2

I tapped my fingers impatiently on my lap, my body tense. I wasn't quite sure how this little… _game_ would play out. My hands tightened into fists, and I adjusted myself on my bed to get more comfortable. My eyes flickered all around, fixated on a small, black and round object. The object moved faster and faster until—

"Damn it!" I cursed loudly. "I hate you Matthias!"

With irritation clearly evident on my face, I threw a silk, black pillow at the TV screen in my room. I watched as a bunch of men clad in equipment and jerseys dog-pilled one of their teammates. Ever since Miranda revealed that Mathias had been to my kingdom once before, she refused to talk to me no matter how badly I asked her about it. So, I needed a way to satisfy my boredom.

I finally put to use that TV I had won in a competition so long ago and became enthralled with the beautiful sport of hockey. Currently, I was obsessed with watching the Ontario Hockey League's Kitchener Rangers in the playoffs. They truly were an amazing team to watch play. Currently, they were playing against the Belleville Bulls and the series were tied 3-3. This was game seven and the Rangers had to win to become OHL champs. To be honest, I was amazed at how quickly I picked up on the hockey lingo. Perhaps the reason why I had become so obsessed with watching these teams was because one of the Kitchener Ranger's goalies was named Steve _Mason_ and one of the Belleville Bulls best players was named Shawn _Matthias_. Sure, my Mathias' name was only spelt with one 't' but still, _Matthias_ and _Mason_ was cutting it very close to Mathias Samuel Mason.

Wow. I was a freak. Either that or I was in denial. I had succumbed to watching hockey players with similar names to the vampire that I was irrevocably in love with. Unfortunately, Matthias had just scored a goal against the team I was rooting for. Curse him and his wretched Belleville Bulls! Oh well. The Rangers were still winning 2-1. I would just have to sit tight and watch.

I stayed perfectly still while I finished watching the game. The Rangers scored their third goal of the night and I let out a holler of excitement. My team was going to win! I just knew it! Late in the third period, the Rangers scored again making the final score 4-1. I was officially now the happiest vampire in the world. I finished watching the game and then turned off my TV. I fell back onto my bed with a grin plastered on my face. Well, that certainly was entertaining. I would have to make sure that I watched the Memorial Cup games when they started. I was all about the Rangers now.

After a while, I became bored of just lying there in my room. So, I got up and left my room to head out into the courtyard. I would just go swimming for a while and look for Gaito's castle. It seemed like a sensible thing to do to occupy my time. I had to rescue Noel anyways.

Eventually, I was out in the ocean and searching. I was having no luck at all. This sucked! Why did Gaito's castle have to _move_? I was beginning to feel irritated once again. However, my attention was quickly diverted by a flash of pink, blue, and green colour. Oh dear… what now? With a heavy sigh, I went off after Lucia, Hanon and Rina. Following them would at least give me something to do. I stayed a ways behind them, not wanting to make myself known. However, things changed for the worst.

Lucia, Hanon, and Rina came upon the Dark Lovers who had Hippo entangled in seaweed. Instinctively, they transformed into their diva forms. Unfortunately for them, the Dark Lovers would only hurt Hippo even more if they began to sing. It was time for me to make my entrance. With incomparable speed, I swam over to Hippo's side and ripped the seaweed into pieces. Apparently, they were glad to see me.

Not giving a damn about how my eyes would flicker from purple to gold whenever I sang, I quickly transformed into my idol form to assist the other three in singing. A beautiful sound resonated when the four of us opened our mouths. Our voices were perfect in every single way and the blend that we had, oh, it made us sound like we were one voice. The Dark Lovers screamed out in pain as our song pierced their sensitive ears. It was a shame that they couldn't accept a simple song about love being the greatest thing of all. Ha! I could hear the sarcasm in my thoughts as the phrase ran through my head. Love was something that could stab you in the back at any moment. However, there were those who were stupid enough to believe that it might somehow work out for them… people like me. But, in all honesty, I could care less now. Love had a bad tendency of screwing everyone over. Lucia, Hanon, Hippo and I were all suffering in some way or another. I wasn't alone.

The Dark Lovers muttered a few curses towards us and they disappeared. I managed to glower at them before they left. With the Dark Lovers gone, I let out a soft sigh and then turned back to my comrades. My eyes turned fierce and were still flickering between gold and violet.

"To the shore—now. We need to talk."

I led the way up to the surface with Lucia, Hanon and Rina following, whispering worriedly amongst themselves. Apparently, they were worried that I was mad at them. Well, their whispering didn't matter. They could have been screaming for all I knew. Heightened senses definitely had their ups and downs. However, the only voice I had yet to hear was Hippo's. I glanced back to see that the legendary Hippocampus was back in his penguin form, following us with a somber expression. He must've done something that would be upsetting. I wanted to know what it was.

It wasn't long before we were all standing on the shore in our human-like forms. The sun had turned into a rich golden colour that painted the blue sky with hues of pink, purple, and red. These were the kinds of sunsets that I would often watch with Mathias. Oh, how my heart ached whenever I thought about him. He had been gone for quite sometime and it still hurt me to think that he was gone. Would he ever come back to me? I pulled my mind away from the subject to once again focus on the small penguin. He still held the somber expression which he had before.

"Alright, Hippo. Speak up. What happened?" I demanded sharply. Perhaps a bit too sharply. My inner strife was beginning to show through my well built façade.

Hippo let out a drawn out sigh. "Well, you see, I actually saw the two mermaid princess' pearls in Gaito's castle. I went out to look for it. I'm not quite sure what happened, to be honest. When I went out, I saw the Black Beauty Sisters and then I was suddenly captured by the Dark Lovers. I'm sorry, Caren. I couldn't find Noel and Coco."

"So that's why you were so quiet before…" I softly murmured.

"Gaito's castle…" Lucia started softly. "What exactly is happening to it?"

I glanced over at Lucia who suddenly looked surprised. She said Kaito's name which confused me greatly. I heard Rina ask Lucia what was wrong and she had apparently heard Kaito's voice. That was certainly strange. I listened for all the things that I could hear. There were the obvious ones like the ocean waves and the cool breeze, and there were the more subtle ones like our breathing and our heartbeats—excluding mine.

"I didn't hear anything." Rina stated seeming just as confused as me.

"I didn't hear it either." I piped in, figuring that my answer would be the best way to justify this. "Did you imagine it?"

"I really heard it. I heard Kaito calling me." Lucia affirmed, trying to back herself up.

I hummed in response and turned my direction back out to the ocean. "How can that be possible though? If we couldn't hear him, how could you?"

_Yes, that's right. How can it be possible to be an immortal being that feeds on the blood of humans?_ I pushed the thoughts out of my mind. God, I was such a hypocrite. I should really try to watch the words that came out of my mouth. Omitting the truth was better than telling only lies.

Lucia only hummed softly, not really knowing how to respond to me. I sighed for the hundredth time that day and looked back out at the ocean. I asked a question that I would always know the answer to. "Can I stay with you guys at your place for now?"

--x--x--x--x--x--x--

As expected, I had received a yes to my question from before. I stood in the room that seemed barren to me now. It felt so… _empty_. I let out a breath of air—no surprise—another sigh. I bit my lower lip, accidentally drawing my own blood. I winced in pain upon this mistake. I had been a vampire for quite a while now and still had not adjusted to how sharp my teeth had become. No, I had no fangs but, that didn't really matter to vampires. I slid my tongue over my ice cold blood while waiting for my injury to heal. All of a sudden, I hated being a vampire.

I sauntered over to the window in my dark room and peered outside. There were a few trees and a road outside of my window but, nothing else. _No golden eyes piercing my own_. I wanted to cry. It seemed as if Mathias had ruined my life. First, he tries to kill me, then he turns me into a vampire, and now he left me all alone with no promise that he would return. He didn't even say goodbye! I clenched my fist angrily as tears began to form in my eyes. Nothing seemed to be going in my favour anymore.

I turned away from the window to glance back at my room. My subconscious mind pulled up images from that night that seemed like so long ago. I could see Mathias whispering into my ear, me attempting to run from him, and him pinning me against the wall near the door. I could hear his perfect voice making that promise about me keeping my mouth shut. I wanted to tell myself to just listen to him but, of course, I knew that I had already acted upon my instincts. I saw the image of Mathias throw me onto my bed and hold his hand firmly over my mouth.

I walked forward and the image disappeared. I allowed myself to fall onto my bed. It was a shock to me when I found that my scent still lingered on the bed. I breathed it in as if it was some sort of drug. No human that I had come across had a scent quite like mine. I could see why Mathias was so drawn to me. A smile graced my lips as I surrounded myself in memories of my time with Mathias. It wasn't much but, it made me feel good.

Then, a strange scent alerted my nose. I instantly sat up on my bed, tense from the unfamiliar presence. Slowly, I got off of my bed and made my way to the window. I merely peeked out so that I was not to be clearly seen. My golden eyes focused on a man with dark brown hair walking down the street with his back turned to me. He looked to be in his mid-thirties and shockingly looked a lot like Mathias. But it wasn't Mathias. My eyes stayed completely focused on this man, mystified by his presence. For some reason, I didn't feel safe. I could sense hostility around this man, this… _vampire_. He was out hunting. One thing that I was sure of, I didn't want to get in his way.

--x--x--x--x--x--x--

Morning took far too long to arrive. Quite frankly, I was terrified as to what might happen if that vampire saw me. I disliked the hostility that surrounded him. It was worse than Mathias when I had first met him. I shuddered fearfully as I lay on my bed. I glanced over at the window and found that sunlight was beginning to illuminate the sleeping world. I breathed a sigh of relief upon this. No more darkness meant that no vampire would do me any harm for now.

I slipped off of the bed and I stretched. It felt good to have something to do now. Night was so boring here. Were I back at the mansion, I could be watching something on TV. Then again, if I were back at home, that vampire may have been able to find me. After all, if Mathias truly was the King of Vampires, most vampires would know where he lives. At least, that's what I thought.

Pushing my thoughts out of my head, I left my room and headed down to the main part of the hotel. I looked around the barren place and wondered how early it really was. I managed to get a peek at the clock to find that it was 6:23am. Well, that explained why it was so quiet around. I frowned and then planted myself in a chair. Well, I had nothing else to do but wait for people to wake up.

"Caren?"

My eyes widened in shock and my head jerked as I was alerted by another voice. I relaxed when I found that it was only Madame Taki. She looked like she had been awake for a while now. I expected no less of the older woman. However, I was slightly surprised by her presence.

"I am surprised that you are awake." She stated while planting herself in the seat next to me. She looked at me, face stern as if she knew something I didn't. "Caren, you seem... bothered by something."

I looked at her oddly. "I do?"

"I've noticed a lot of strange things going on with you. Your life has changed drastically ever since the issue with that one man came up. Your life isn't what it seems to be, is it?"

I knew I didn't have to lie. Madame Taki knew that I was involved with something huge. Something that had nothing to do with the marine world. She also knew that my life was now centered around Mathias, even though she did not personally know who he was.

"No, my life isn't what it seems. Yes, you're right about things being different with me ever since I met that man. However, they are issues that, apparently, no longer concern me. And, despite how I still worry about them, I don't want anyone else to know about them. Right now, all I want to do is rescue my sister."

Madame Taki became silent as she contemplated my reply. "I understand your worries. No one else shall know of this. However, I do believe that your heart wishes to know where he is."

I was quite surprised that she was able to see my strife and know exactly why it was there. I must've shown it on my face. Yet, I nodded my head to her question. I did want to know where Mathias was. If he didn't come back for me then, despite what Miranda told me to do, I would go find him. I watched curiously as Madame Taki held her crystal ball out in front of her and peered into its misty haze. I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary but, apparently, she did.

"I cannot say for sure where he is exactly but, I can tell you that it is in a mountainous region where there are vast castles and cathedrals. However, I am getting a very bad feeling about this place. It feels... dark." She explained while looking up at me. "Caren, please, do not get the idea in your head to find this place. It doesn't feel right at all."

Well, there was another person telling me to not search for Mathias. In all honesty, I was sick of it. He was my air for god's sake! How was I supposed to live without him! Well, I had been doing fine so far. I seriously felt like killing something right now. However, I had to push the thoughts out of my head as the front doors to the Pearl Piari opened. Rina walked in seeming cheerful and waved at Madame Taki and myself.

"Good morning!" She greeted happily. "How did you sleep last night?"

"Well, I suppose." I replied while laughing mentally. Sleep. Ha-ha! What a joke! Not that Rina would understand it.

Nikora came down the stairs and Madame Taki went over to talk to her. Rina came over to sit in the chair that Madame Taki had just been sitting in. The two of us talked for a while about normal things while we waited for Lucia and Hanon to wake up. I was simply happy to just talk about my new fascination with hockey. Oh, how I was excited to see the Kitchener Rangers play again! Nikora turned on the TV and Rina and I got caught up in watching the news.

I managed to drag my attention away from the news long enough to notice that the sky was growing progressively darker. Finally, Lucia and Hanon came down the stairs to watch the TV with Rina and I. A newscaster appeared on screen with breaking news of a cyclone forming over the ocean. The storm looked like it was getting pretty bad. I glanced back at the window to find that the winds were picking up. And then, _they_ appeared on the screen.

"How are you doing, Mermaid Princesses?"

I was the first to say something. "That's one of the Black Beauty Sisters! What _exactly_ are they doing?"

Rina was all of a sudden quite serious. She stood up and walked over to the TV. "They're using sounds that only mermaids can hear to relate a message to us."

Sheshe spoke once again. "You have been hiding in the human world for far too long."

"Now we, the Black Beauty Sisters, will use this chance and lure you out." Mimi added in.

"If you continue to hide, this tornado will destroy the city by the sea." Sheshe threatened.

"We aren't kidding." Mimi affirmed. "If you don't come out by noon, the people on land will be in danger."

_And the vampires would get severely pissed off_. I knew that vampires could get quite irritable when their food supply was in danger, no matter where it was. I listened as Sheshe and Mimi laughed evilly as the screen went fuzzy. Well, we had some work to do now.

--x--x--x--x--x--x--

I wasn't quite sure what we were doing. We were swimming right into a trap. Oh, Mathias would kill me if he knew what I was doing. Then again, it was his fault for leaving me in the first place. I couldn't help but imagine what would happen if I would be captured. I could see Mathias finding out and going ballistic. He would probably search the ocean like a mad fiend until he found me. Then, when he did, he would slaughter Gaito making his death drawn out and extremely painful. Then he would set me free, take me in his arms and smother me in kisses. I caught myself smiling at the thought and pushed the devilish grin away before anyone could notice. Suddenly, Hippo's voice alerted me to something.

"Wait a minute, the two pearls are nearby."

My eyes widened in shock. _Two pearls?_ Did that mean that Noel... was she nearby? I frantically looked around with false hope shining within my non beating heart. Then I heard a voice that made my hopes fall.

"You weren't afraid to come look for us?"

Somehow, I seemed sickened by the tone that Mimi had taken. She spoke as if... as if we weren't courageous enough to come and that we would be cowards! Oh, how I would've _loved_ to sink my teeth into that precious little neck of hers. Who would be fearful then? I glowered at the sisters as the Dark Lovers appeared beside them. However, something seemed off. It was as if the quartet was in a trance—oh, they were most definitely in a trance. As if it were instinct, Me, Lucia, Hanon and Rina all transformed into our idol forms. Hippo also transformed.

Mimi laughed. "That won't work!"

The blue haired water demon snapped her fingers and a group of angler fish appeared. To say, in the least, we were surprised. Rina advised that we start singing but then, oh, those angler fish! They began emitting a blinding white light! I couldn't see and had to shade my eyes. All that light made my eyes feel like they were burning! I couldn't understand what was going on around me until it was too late. The next thing I knew, Hippo had been attacked, and I was trapped along with my companions. I tried hitting the ball of golden light surrounding us.

"It's no use! This thing can't be destroyed!" I proclaimed hopelessly.

I glanced back at the Black Beauty Sisters who looked like they were about to sing. I almost gasped when I realized what they had. Noel and Coco's pearls! They took them! How dare they! I couldn't dwell upon the thought when a sound akin to nails on a chalkboard resounded. I cringed upon the voices of the Black Beauty Sisters. God, it hurt so much! My hands flew over my ears and I let out a loud scream to try and drown out their singing. My tactics weren't working so well. When their song was finally over, I was separated from Lucia, Hanon and Rina and was sent down into some crevice in the ocean floor.

I wanted to scream again. I felt so… trapped. Hadn't I been wishing for this moment once upon a time? Back when I had reason to fear Mathias? Yes, I did. I wanted to be with my sister in Gaito's little collection. But not anymore. I was not going to be turned into something to look at for eternity. I was going to save my sister.

All of a sudden, a heavenly white light enveloped the darkness that surrounded me. The next thing I knew, I had been freed from my prison. I glanced around to find that Lucia, Rina and Hanon had been freed as well. I heard a soft feminine voice resound and, when I looked, I was shocked to find that I was looking at Aqua Regina herself. My jaw dropped. I was completely speechless! She spoke of giving us a new song to sing in dark times. I felt an unearthly power surge throughout my body and I discovered that my outfit had been slightly altered.

With a newfound determination, I began to sing with Lucia, Hanon and Rina. Our voices had just become so much stronger. I could feel the power echoing from our voices and I could faintly hear the Black Beauty Sisters screaming out for Gaito to help them. I didn't think that it would happen. Those two made off with Noel and Coco's pearls. I highly doubt that he would forgive that. A strange light shot out from somewhere in the ocean and enveloped the Black Beauty Sisters. Hold on… Was Gaito actually _helping_ them? I was shocked. However, to my amusement, the Black Beauty Sisters turned into little angler fish. I had to contain my laughter. It was the hardest thing for me to have ever done _in my life_.

However, the Black Beauty Sisters were no longer of any concern to me. I would be able to rescue Noel soon. I was sick of waiting. Now was the time to act. Now was the time to infiltrate Gaito's castle and rescue Coco and my sister, Noel.

--x--x--x--x--x--x--

An ominous feeling was radiating from the vast ocean. Lucia, Hanon, Rina and I all stood observing the water as the sky began to turn dark. The time was nearing. This was the time when I would finally rescue my sister and put Mathias' gift to use. After all, the only reason why he turned me in the first place was because I had told him that I had wanted to kill Gaito. Maybe that was all it was. For a time, I believed that Mathias may have actually turned me because he _loved_ me. When I thought about it, not once had Mathias told me that he actually loved me. How was I supposed to know what his feelings towards me actually were? He could have just been using me for all I knew. Lucia's voice pulled me out of my thoughts and reminded me of whom we were supposed to be thinking about.

"Hey, Rina, do you think he's waiting for us?" She asked the green mermaid princess somberly.

"Yeah." She replied. "Gaito has been waiting for us a long time."

"He knows what we want." I added in, trying to push Mathias out of my mind for the time being.

I watched the ocean carefully with my golden eyes. My enemy was out there. My _prey_ was waiting for me. In all honesty, I couldn't wait to go accept his invitation. After all, vampiric parties often led to either one's turning or one's death. More often that not, it was the latter. I was an exception. I was forced to look over at Nikora and Madame Taki when they said that we had to see something. I walked over to the patio table with Lucia, Rina and Hanon in tow. So then, Madame Taki could find Gaito's castle with her crystal ball? It sounded good to me.

"Let's go!" I demanded sharply to cut off everyone's conversation. They all looked at me. "I'm tired of waiting. Let's go rescue Noel!"

Lucia, Hanon and Rina all nodded their agreement and Hippo added in about also rescuing Coco and Sara as well. Hanon also mentioned Taro. Yes, she would be reunited with her love. She was lucky. My relationship had been crushed—for now at least. If what Miranda said would hold true then Mathias would come find me. My attention was quickly drawn to Lucia who appeared to be thoroughly upset about something.

"Lucia, what's wrong?" Rina asked worriedly.

"It's just that… I'm worried about Kaito."

My hands tightened into fists. All this talk of rescuing lovers was making me sick. I didn't want to think about Mathias. I had to save my sister. I would save her. "Lucia, I'm sure that Kaito will be just fine. In the meantime, we have my sister, Coco and Sara to find. Like I said before, let's go."

I figured that I would start this and I ran off towards the beach. Everyone followed me so, obviously, it was working. Soon… soon I would rescue Noel. When we were all gathered on the beach, Madame Taki gave us words of good luck and Nikora promised to make us some sort of food when we got back. I could've cared less. All I wanted was Noel. Hippo reassured Nikora and Madame Taki that we would prevail. Of course we would. Gaito would be dead by the time I was through with him.

"Alright guys, we can do this, right?" Hanon asked cheerfully as if we were going off on some crusade that we going to win.

We all nodded our response before I took off for the ocean. I dove into the water and changed back into my mermaid form. I was soon joined by Lucia, Hanon and Rina. I quickly swam ahead to the area Madame Taki said Gaito's castle would be. I heard Lucia call out for me to wait and I mentally slapped myself. I would have to be more careful with my speed. Still, I wanted to get there as soon as possible. I slowed my pace so that the three could catch up to me. Thankfully, they didn't press the issue of my speed as we continued to swim.

I was beginning to feel a strong dark aura. I wasn't sure if anyone else could feel it but I knew I could. We were getting close. I followed that aura until it became immensely strong. I then surfaced with Lucia, Rina and Hanon following suit. My eyes widened in shock. Gaito's castle was _huge_! Dare I say, bigger than Mathias' mansion! One thought was being processed in my mind: Noel was in there. I was about to look for the entrance when a strange current began pulling at my body. I heard my three companions begin screaming and I soon found out way. The ocean was draining into a huge hole! I began to scream myself as I went over the side. I fell faster and faster until everything went dark.

It was so strange being conscious that whole time. Were I still fully a mermaid, I would've passed out. I landed on a hard floor and I cringed. It hurt. My eyes were squeezed shut so I wasn't exactly sure where we were. Slowly, I opened them to find that we were in a room in Gaito's castle. I looked over to my companions to find that they were all unconscious. Quickly, I swam over to Rina and began to shake her.

"Rina! Rina! Wake up!" I demanded worriedly. I couldn't just leave them there while I went off to find Noel. It wouldn't be right.

Eventually, Rina came to. I could hear Hanon groaning nearby as she also regained consciousness. Now, only Lucia needed to wake up. Rina went over to her in an attempt to get her up. I then took the time to observe the room where we were in. There was one exit that I found. I doubted that there were any others unless they were well hidden. I heard Lucia ask where we were and I figured that since I was the only one who didn't pass out, I would have to answer. Unfortunately, all I knew was that we were in a room in Gaito's castle.

"I don't know where we dropped." I admitted sullenly.

I kept glancing around as if paranoid. I had to find Noel. Where would she be? I became more alert as I sensed four different heartbeats sound. We were no longer alone. Despite what I now knew, I was shocked when I heard Gaito's voice.

"Welcome Mermaid Princesses. I know what you want, but first, my good workers are going to take care of you."

I felt as if I was going to snap. Just hearing his voice caused anger to surge through my body. I was going to kill him. I heard Hanon and Rina shouting out at him and I figured that I would make my demands as well.

"Where are Noel and Coco?!"

I got no answer. Instead, I heard the irritating laughter of one of the Dark Lovers. I cringed. To me, once again, it sounded like nails on a chalkboard. _Oh, the joys of having sensitive hearing_. They spoke about killing us and I was almost tempted to laugh. To bad Mathias beat them to me. Now I would get to be their own personal poltergeist. I almost smiled in glee at the thought. No matter, I was saving my evil thoughts for Gaito. He would suffer through what I had to suffer when I found out that he had imprisoned my sister. He would pay the ultimate price.

Rina told Lucia, Hippo and I to go find my sister and Coco and I obliged to that. I quickly swam off to the doorway with Lucia and Hippo following. We swam down a long corridor turning down different hallways and trying to open different doors. We were having no luck. I tried desperately to listen for slowed heartbeats that might match Noel and Coco's. Then I heard it—the heartbeats that I had been listening for. I swam ahead of Lucia and turned down another corridor.

"Caren, where are you going?" Lucia asked. "How do we know if they're down that way?"

"Trust me Lucia." I said reassuringly. "I know. I can hear them."

Lucia and Hippo seemed confused by my choice of words but didn't press the subject. They probably thought that I was supernatural by now. Soon we came to a large, fancy door. Noel was in this room. I could sense her presence. I would finally be able to meet my sister. Not being able to wait any longer, I pushed the door open, not even hearing Lucia speak. I was too enthralled with searching the strange room. There were six large tubes that lined the room and two of them were not empty. My eyes widened in shock when I found Coco and Noel within these tubes.

"Coco! Noel!" I shouted before swimming up to the tube that held my sister. I called out to my sister again despite the fact that she wouldn't be able to hear me.

All of my anger and fury began to rise within me once more. Seeing Noel trapped only fed the flames within me. My hands tightened into fists and I struck the glass that contained my sister. Lucia and Hippo's eyes widened in shock as they watched the glass shatter into a million pieces. My sister fell and I instantly caught her in my arms. I had succeeded. My sister was now free.

"Noel, Noel, it's me, your sister. Wake up, please!" I begged my sister's sleeping form.

I watched as my sister's blue eyes began to flicker open. "…C-Caren? Is that you Caren?"

I nodded at my sister's question. There were undoubtedly tears in my eyes at this point. I had found my sister. She was free. Strangely enough, Mathias didn't even matter to me anymore. He hardly even crossed my mind.

"Caren, I've missed you so much, you know."

I felt nothing but joy in that moment. I embraced my sister tightly and cried tears of happiness. We had been reunited at last. I had saved her without Mathias' help. It felt fulfilling in a way. The moment wasn't long lived when I remembered that Coco was still imprisoned. I glanced over to find that Hippo had transformed into his human-like form and shattered the glass that held Coco with that key of his. She fell from the broken prison and into Lucia's arms. I was drawn away from the scene by my sister's voice.

"Caren, how have you been? Have you been alright?"

I looked at her and smiled brightly. "You're free. I'm perfectly fine now."

It was difficult to just push away the whole incident around Mathias but… what I spoke was the truth. I was happy and content knowing that my sister was alright. I didn't need Mathias anymore. He had left me without a word. Perhaps forgetting about him was the best option for now.

Both my attention and Noel's was drawn back to Coco as she began apologizing repeatedly. I focused in on the conversation to find that she was blaming herself for the loss of Sara's pearl. Personally, I didn't care about Sara. She was working for Gaito. That, to me, was unforgivable. As my thoughts turned bitter towards Sara, the Orange Mermaid Princess silently entered the room.

My eyes shot over to her and they turned into a death glare. How dare she come here! She was a traitor to the rest of us! She shouldn't even breathe the air that we do! Coco seemed to think differently about my thoughts. She wanted to help Sara, Lucia as well. I didn't understand why. Sara was even saying that she wasn't going to join us. She was _in love_ with Gaito.

Then something happened. I don't know what Sara did but, Lucia disappeared within a pillar of light. And then she was gone. My eyes widened in shock. That just proved my point further. Sara was no good. Her soul had turned as black as her hair. My hands tightened into fists as I tried to pinpoint Lucia's location. Something was off though. I could hear her heartbeat as if she was still in the room, yet, she wasn't. I was confused. But Lucia had helped me get this far and I was not going to turn my back on her.

"Alright, Sara, where is she?" I demanded angrily as my eyes turned to slits. "Speak up or else you won't live to regret it."

Sara, as well as Coco, Noel and Hippo looked shocked upon my reaction. I quickly realized why figuring that the monster within me had taken control. My vampiric side was showing and there was no way I could hide it. Then again, Sara deserved to be driven by fear. I would _make_ her regret joining Gaito. However, she didn't answer my demands. I was becoming very angry.

Just then, Hanon and Rina burst in through the door. Sara glanced back at them in shock and then glanced back at me. She was surrounded by us mermaid princesses—and a vampire. She didn't stand a chance. I just turned into the leader of our little group. My eyes took on a darker tone as I smiled sadistically at Sara.

"Last chance, Sara." I warned in a twisted voice which I'm sure creeped everyone out—a bad habit that I had picked up from Mathias on the night that he had turned me. "Tell us where Lucia is."

She didn't answer and, apparently, didn't need to. My pearl, as well as everyone else's began glowing brightly. Sara and the room we were in faded away and we appeared in a place full of mirrors. Lucia and Gaito were there as well. However, this Gaito ceased to have a heartbeat or a scent. That was strange. Was he merely the reflection off of one of the mirrors? A hallucination, perhaps? No matter. He still had to be eliminated.

Hippo handed over Noel and Coco's pearls to them and the rest of us transformed into our idol forms. Lucia said something about Gaito not being able to win and how we would conquer all. I wasn't really paying any attention to what she would say anymore. All I knew was that I had to sing. So, I did just that. It was truly amazing how we six mermaid princesses had such incredible blend. That doesn't usually happen when you stick a bunch of different people into a room and force them to sing.

Eventually, our song was done and the mirrors around us, as well as Gaito, shattered into a million pieces. We were then, somehow, back in the room we were in before where Coco and Noel were being kept. However, to my dismay, my assumptions on us only defeating a fake Gaito were correct. The real Gaito stood at the end of the room with an evil smile on his face. Oh, but that smile wouldn't be there long. He would be screaming in agony once I got him alone. I was dragged out of my dark thoughts as Gaito spoke.

"Mermaid Princesses, prepare to meet your doom."

To everyone's surprise, I laughed. Lucia, Hanon and Rina probably thought that I had snapped and Noel and Coco probably didn't have a very good first impression of me. But what Gaito said… oh, it was too much! I was to meet my doom? He had to be joking! I looked up at him with an equally dark smile.

"I'm sorry to burst your bubble but… there are much more fearful things in the world than you. In fact, these things, these… _creatures_ would put you to shame, Gaito." I stated in an amused voice. Oh, how much should I reveal in this moment? Well, I would only leave my companions to wonder but not know. "Besides, for a while about a month ago, I wished to be here within your captivity because I feared for my very life. Ironic considering the circumstances that I am under now. You cease to frighten me, Gaito. If you wish to scare me with talk of… _my doom_, then I would suggest stalking me for a week, confronting me when I'm all alone, demand that I come to a party as the guest of honor, have one of your minions attack me and bring me to your castle where I am to be dressed in a neo-gothic outfit with ridiculous high heels, give me _blood_ to drink, and play a sick game of hide and seek."

I could've laughed at Gaito's expression. He seemed shocked to say in the least. I didn't doubt that my companions would have the same expressions. I wondered if I had revealed too much. Well, that didn't matter to me anymore. Everyone would think I was crazy and Noel would press me for more information. Gaito's expression hardened after a moment and he looked at me sternly.

"And what makes you say this? Certainly, that could not have happened to you. You're a poor liar, Purple Mermaid Princess."

"You think I'm lying?" I said while trying to prevent myself from laughing once again. "Well, we shall see who's lying soon enough. Don't get me wrong, I'm a lot different than you may think. Not to mention stronger."

"I highly doubt that." Gaito disagreed. "I shall prove you wrong right here and now!"

I watched curiously as Gaito raised his hand. A dark light emitted from his hand and shot forward. I stayed where I was. If he was going to attack me, I would prove that it would not work. After all, the only thing that could damage a vampire and kill it is fire and we were in a palace that was filled with water. My eyes widened in shock when the blast of dark energy did not hit me, but Hippo instead. I turned to see if the penguin was alright but Rina and Hanon beat me to it. Curse my pride! I shouldn't have said anything! If I had stayed quiet, this wouldn't have happened to Hippo!

Just then, another blast of dark energy came from Gaito. This time, I focused on where it was aimed. It was headed for Lucia. Reacting this time, I quickly pushed her out of harm's way. This wasn't good. What had I gotten us into? Lucia and I got back up on our feet to look over at Gaito. A strange, golden mark appeared on his forehead.

"Hey, I've seen that somewhere before!" Lucia blurted out. "I saw it on Kaito. He has the same mark!"

I was confused now. Kaito was the silly human boy that Lucia had fallen in love with. Why would he have the same mark as Gaito? I tried to think of reasons but couldn't. "What exactly does it mean?"

Gaito laughed. "You don't know? Kaito and I are brothers. We were separated but now we're fighting together."

"You're lying!" Rina blurted out.

"We won't believe you!" I added in with a lot of conviction in my voice.

"Just like I don't believe your little story?" He shot back, flashing me an evil grin.

I just smiled right back. "What happened to me was something woven together by nightmares. You're just being ridiculous."

Gaito laughed again. "Well, it's up to you if you believe me or not but, Kaito and I are the same."

Gaito was beginning to irritate me and I desperately wanted to follow through with the reason I became a vampire in the first place. Suddenly, blackness swirled around me and my vision was blurred. Damn that Gaito to hell! I thought that I had heard Lucia say some stuff about Kaito but no words were really coherent to me at the time. As the darkness faded away, Gaito had summoned the Dark Lovers to help him fight us. One word kept floating around in my mind: ridiculous.

However, when the Dark Lovers began to attack us, the word soon faded away. I was having no problem dodging their attacks (aside from Yuuri's piano playing) but everyone else wasn't doing too well. Eventually, Hippo called out for us. He must've found a way to escape. So, we all followed him. However, Lucia and her clumsiness caused us to stop mid-stride to wait for her. She was in the way of one of Maria's attacks. I was about to go push her out of harm's way yet again, only to find that she had called out for Kaito with a warm light following to protect her from the attack. I looked back at Gaito to find that he and the Dark Lovers had fled from the light. Cowards.

When the light died down, it seemed as if everyone had swamped Lucia, asking if she was alright or not. She said that Kaito had saved her. For some reason, I felt envious. She had someone who cared about her enough to protect her. Why wouldn't Mathias do the same? Didn't he know that he had hurt me by leaving? Didn't he understand that? I saw him in my mind looking as perfect as he did that day when I found him feigning sleep. Then, the image became distorted and I saw the vampire that I had seen last night. He really did look a lot like Mathias. Now, I was beginning to wonder who that was.

Becoming wrapped up in my thoughts once more, I almost failed to notice the arrival of Sara until she spoke. I tried to focus in on what the conversation was about. Apparently, Lucia was demanding to know where Kaito was. Didn't she know that demanding such answers wouldn't get her anywhere? If she wanted something then she would have to go out and get it. That was how life worked. Speaking of which, if we were going to get caught up in singing once more to try and defeat Sara, it would be a perfect oppouritunity for me to go and find Gaito. His time would come.

As my sister and the other five mermaid princesses began to sing, I joined in for some of it before using my speed to make a stealthy escape. Surprisingly, no one had noticed. I was now out in the hallways of Gaito's castle to find him and kill him. Soon he would see the wrath that he had brought upon himself when he captured my sister. He would pay the ultimate price.

I could hear it. I could hear his heart beating like a steady drum. As I focused on the source of his heartbeat, I pinpointed the area he was in and began to walk slowly towards it. The sound that had drawn me here continued to get louder and louder as I approached. I could now detect the scent that went along with the heartbeat; water contaminated by darkness. I came upon a set of double doors and I silently pushed them open. I crept in, and closed them behind me. I looked up to find Kaito lying on the ground in front of Gaito who was sitting on a throne. I flashed him a pearly white smile.

"Well, if it isn't the Purple Mermaid Princess. Where are the others?" He asked as if he was winning this little game. "It was foolish of you to come alone."

"It was foolish of you to come and stay here with your brother who is unconscious and will not be able to help you." I snapped back while walking forward. "You have no idea how long I have waited for this day. This is the day where I will be drenched in your luscious blood. It is the only reason why I became this way. The only reason why _he_ turned me."

As I continued to approach Gaito, I could see the fear flicker through his eyes. I also saw the reason why reflected in his burgundy orbs. I saw the hunter with crimson eyes who was ready to kill her prey. But, oh, how I didn't want his death to be quick and painless. It would be drawn out and agonizing. A twisted smile crept onto my face as I continued to approach Gaito.

"Gaito, prepare to meet you doom." I stated, seeing if he would catch on to my repeating his phrase from before.

Gaito stood up and shoot a blast of dark energy at me. It hit me yet had absolutely no effect. I came out of the attack looking fine and dandy. More fear was evident on Gaito's face now. For a moment, I could see myself being pursued by Mathias. I was doing the exact same thing to Gaito that Mathias had done to me. Oh, the irony of it all! I simply had to make a comment about it.

"You know, Gaito. This is exactly what happened when he turned me. I was being pursued by a hunter. However, he had much more constraint. One thousand years of practice I suppose. However, I've only been like this for about a month. Chances are that I will drain you of all of your blood."

Gaito looked to fearful for this to be real. "What _are_ you?"

I flashed a smile at him. Too bad I didn't have fangs. "I'm a Night Dweller. Or, otherwise known as a 'Cold One', 'Bloodsucker' or, the term more frequently used, a vampire. I'm only half but… it's still enough to be far stronger than you."

Gaito's eyes widened in fear and I was at his side in half a second. My hand clasped tightly around his throat and I lifted him off his feet. He struggled to break free from my grasp but I didn't allow him to do so. Besides, I was being careful to make sure that he could still breathe properly. I wouldn't want to make a mistake an accidentally kill him now.

"So, Gaito… how shall I kill you?" I asked sweetly as if asking him what his favourite ice cream flavour was. "I'll leave it up to you since you were the one who so willingly went after my sister and caused all this mess."

Gaito didn't respond. He was still trying furiously to get out of my grasp. He must've felt so weak right now. I delighted in that. However, he was taking far too long to respond so I threw him against one of the walls. When he fell to the floor, there was a noticeable crack where he had connected with the wall. Oops! The poor architecture! I would have to be more careful.

Gaito struggled to get back up on his feet and I laughed at his feeble attempts at appearing strong. His end was near. He should just give up now. Still giggling, I made my way over to him and cupped his chin in my hand. His eyes were fearful and once again, I could see the monster reflected in them. I had never felt this powerful before in my life. I had always feared Gaito but… not anymore. His life was in my hands. I could spare his life and take it away just as easily. It was amusing!

With a dark smile, I moved my hand so that I carved a smooth line across his cheek with my finger. Gaito winced in pain but there was nothing he could do. He was like a deer in headlights. My smile darkened as a crimson colour flowed from his cheek. Gracefully, I leaned forward and licked away the blood. Gaito tried to pull himself away from me once more. I instantly grabbed the fabric of his coat and pulled him back.

"I'm not finished with you yet." I informed darkly, emphasizing the 'not'.

Gaito looked as if he were desperately searching for some way out of this situation. From the look in his eyes, it appeared that something had clicked in his mind. This would certainly be interesting. To my unfortunate disdain, his lips came crashing down on mine. I was repulsed that he would even think that this would work. Only Mathias was allowed to kiss me! So, I bit down into his lower lip and began to draw blood from him. He let out a yelp of pain and tried to back away from my. I kept right at his side, draining the blood from his lip.

"Caren!"

My eyes widened in shock and I released Gaito. I checked my reflection in Gaito's eyes and was quite pleased to find that there were no traces of blood on my face and that my eyes were no longer red. They were merely flickering from gold to violet once more. I turned to see my sister looking quite shocked. Everyone else was there as well. Sara looked even more shocked than my sister. Oh, right, Sara supposedly loved Gaito and it would have appeared that I was making out with him. Well, that would be difficult to explain.

Lucky for me, I didn't have to. Apparently, with the arrival of the remaining mermaid princesses, Gaito got an ounce of courage to threaten the human world. Power surged from his body that resounded throughout the room, out into the hallways and to the victims on the land above.

"The world of the sea, the world of the land, everything should just disappear!" He screamed out.

The room began to cave in around us and Lucia panicked for Kaito's sake. Yes, he was still lying unconscious on the floor, completely unaware that a moment ago, I was trying to kill his brother. I went back to my sister's side and quietly assured her that what had happened between Gaito and me was nothing. After all, I wasn't about to say that I was trying to kill him. That wouldn't bode well at all. I tried to focus on what Gaito was doing at the present time. He was severely pissed off now and chances were that he was going to use all the time he had to try and destroy us.

Then, to my surprise, Kaito was fully awake and Lucia was the one unconscious. What just happened? I really should have been paying attention. However, the one thing that I noticed was that Kaito was emitting that same warm light from before and weakening Gaito. Eventually, Gaito was flung back, hitting another wall. Geez, the poor guy couldn't catch a break, could he? Then again, he deserved it. The Dark Lovers appeared around him and they quickly retreated with Gaito. So much for my plans of killing him off right then and there.

Now there was no longer any need to stay in this room. Gaito had retreated to a different place. We would have to find him soon. I glanced back over at Lucia and Kaito to find that Kaito had finally realized who Lucia was. In my opinion, it was about time. I let out a sigh when I saw how happy they were together. I was alone. My only love had gone away. Then again, I had all eternity to find him again, right?

The ground began to shake, pulling me out of my thoughts. This wasn't good. The room was beginning to fall apart! I glanced around, noting the worried expressions on everyone's faces. I quickly caught on to the conversation happening around me.

"We have to stop Gaito as soon as possible." Rina stated hurriedly.

"But where is he now?" I thought aloud.

Sara then joined the conversation. "He's probably in his room. I will guide you there. Let's go. We must stop him."

Everyone nodded and we followed Sara back down a hallway towards where Gaito's room would be. I was irritated by the fact that I couldn't detect his heartbeat. There was far too much noise with all the chaos ensuing around us. Eventually, we came upon a door. However, that same dark energy that Gaito had been using before surrounded the area, forming a barrier between us and Gaito's room.

"What is that?" Kaito asked in curiosity upon what had been placed in our way.

"This is the power of the Panthalessa which overflowed from Gaito's body. It's the Aura of Hatred."

A voice called out and we turned to see Hippo coming towards us while carrying an unconscious Taro. I didn't think it would be that useful for him to join us now. He had been gone for what seemed like a long period of time to me. Then again, I _did_ go off to find Gaito and kill him. As Rina began to speak, I quickly focused back in on the conversation.

"Gaito is probably inside of that Aura. We have to take him by force."

"We can't!" Sara cut in immediately. "Those who are not liked by Gaito cannot enter."

Hippo took action, believing that he may be able to break through. The moment he came in contact with the barrier, he was shot back by the immense power. Kaito then said that he would go in and Lucia began to argue with him that he shouldn't. I was beginning to get irritated from all of the arguing.

"I'll go." Sara stated as if her mind was already made up.

"Sara, you're going to go?" I asked quietly as if still within my own thoughts.

"Taro and Hanon melted my heart which had been coldly frozen. It is now my duty to calm his raging heart." Sara explained while walking up to the barrier. "Gaito, can you hear me? It's me. I want to talk to you."

To my surprise as well as everyone else's, Sara was able to enter the barrier. Now, all we had to do was wait. It would be a miracle if Sara's plan worked. Unfortunately, after a while, more of the castle began to collapse. I took that as a sign that things were not going well. I turned to Lucia.

"Hey, all of our pearls are together now. Shouldn't Aqua Regina appear?"

"I don't know. Why doesn't she appear?" Lucia asked, restating my question.

"Caren is right." Hanon piped in. "All seven mermaid princesses and the seven pearls gathered."

"Those are the conditions to revive Aqua Regina so, why isn't she here?" Rina pondered further.

Noel added in, making a good comment. "Perhaps it is because our seven hearts have still yet to become one."

"Maybe Sara's heart hasn't really come back to us yet." Coco added in.

"That's right." Noel said, voicing her opinions once again. "Sara thinks that it's her fault for Gaito's actions."

This was turning into a conversation led by only Coco and Noel when Coco piped in yet again. "Sara is still not with us completely."

"We were foolish." I then stated suddenly. Everyone's attention turned to me. "We thought that she had completely befriended us. Has she betrayed us?"

To my surprise, Lucia answered my remarks by singing. I was confused by this. Everyone else seemed confused as well. Rina and Hanon even made their bewilderment known by asking Lucia what she was doing. I figured that I would ask to, not that she would give anyone an answer anyways.

"What are you doing?"

I tried to figure out what she was thinking at that moment. I couldn't think of anything. Nothing seemed to be coming to mind. Then, Rina began singing. Hanon soon followed. Then it clicked in my mind. If Sara was able to hear us then…

I quickly joined in, Noel and Coco following suit. Our voices rose in a crescendo and I was sure that I heard Sara's voice join in. We had gotten to Sara. Lucia's plan was working. Just then, our pearls began to glow brightly. The light they emitted just kept on getting brighter. The dark barrier faded away and the heavenly Aqua Regina descended towards us. She began to speak of things but I did not pay any attention. I was still absorbed by her celestial presence. My mind began to wander yet again.

I was a vampire. A creature of darkness. Did that mean that I was condemned to a hellish purgatory if my immortal life came to an end? Or was there still hope for me? If there was a god of everything… would he be merciful? What was to become of vampires who really didn't have choice in the matter of their turning and had to kill to survive? I was dragged out of my thoughts as Aqua Regina said that she would give us a new power.

A blue microphone appeared in my hands and I looked down at it. Did I deserve this? It seemed as if Sara had voiced the same concern about herself, only, for much different reasons. However, I listened for Aqua Regina's reply. So, Sara would be able to help save Gaito's soul by singing? Perhaps I would be able to redeem myself by trying to bring more good to the world. I would sing with the mermaid princesses and I would make a vow to never again harm a human or put their life in jeopardy.

I began to sing along with my companions. Our voices rose in a beautiful melody and Gaito cringed. This was it. This was finally the end. All of our struggles and trials were coming to an end. This thought brought more conviction into my voice when I was singing and gave the song so much more emotion. Soon, our song was finished and Gaito was on his knees.

I stood and watched as Kaito tried to speak with his brother. Gaito claimed that he had lost his power. Kaito offered him the chance to come to the surface world and live with him. He turned the offer down. He said that he was still the king of the Panthalessa and that he would not abandon his castle. He retreated and the ceiling collapsed, blocking us from going to him. The castle was falling apart and it was time for us to make our leave.

Very soon, we were out of the dissipating castle and swimming away. It was all over now. Lucia's voice took me out of my thoughts as Sara stopped behind us. I watched as she handed her pearl over to Lucia. She was going to return to Gaito. I was amazed by her devotion to him. Even though she had Taro, she still was going to go back to Gaito—even if it would cost her her life. I no longer felt hate towards Sara and Gaito. I envied them. I wanted a relationship like that with Mathias. Only, he was gone.

I watched in silence as the Orange Mermaid Princess turned and headed back to the fading castle. I would give my life if it meant being with Mathias again. However, I already had given my life to him and it didn't seem to be enough. Sara and Gaito were so lucky. I felt tears forming in my eyes and I quickly used that inhuman speed to wipe them away. After, I noticed Noel glancing curiously at me. Perhaps she wouldn't have thought much about it.

I turned my eyes back towards the castle and watched as it disappeared within the ocean. I had greatly misunderstood Gaito. He deserved to die with the person he cared for by his side. That was the most ideal death. That was how I wanted to go if a time came were I would be killed.

For now, I was alive. That was all that mattered.

--x--x--x--x--x--x--

Well, I knew that this time had to come sooner or later. It was now officially time for Noel, Coco and I to say our farewells to Lucia, Hanon and Rina. The three younger mermaids stood in front of us, forcing smiles on their faces as we said our goodbyes. It was so hard to believe that all of this had happened.

"Stay well, Caren, Noel." Rina told us with a smile.

"Rina…" Noel said softly.

"I really owe you guys a lot." I admitted, allowing my persistent stubbornness to go away. "Let me give you my thanks for now."

Noel, Coco and I swam in silence as we parted with Lucia, Hanon and Rina. After that one final battle, we would most likely never see each other again. So, was this it? It amazed me really. All the mermaid princesses had gotten so close within that short period of time and now we were all parting. And not only that, but, I would be completely alone once more… unless…

Becoming engulfed in my thoughts, I almost missed Coco saying her farewells to Noel and I. We said our goodbyes and then, she was gone. Noel and I would soon follow suit. It wasn't fair. I didn't even get to know my sister that well if at all. When Coco was out of sight, I let out a long sigh.

"Caren, are you alright?" Noel asked. "You seem really out of things and… upset about something."

I frowned. "Well, it's just that… you're all that I have now and I'm going to lose you too."

"Lose me too?" She repeated in confusion. "Caren, I'm sure that we'll see each other again soon. And not only me, but, the other mermaid princesses too."

"I wasn't actually referring to them." I admitted sadly, recalling the time I had spent with Mathias. "There was this one guy that I really, really liked and…"

Noel gasped. "Did he break your heart?"

I laughed bitterly. What an interesting choice of words for her to use. She had no idea how right she truly was. "In more way than one, I'm telling you."

"What a jerk." She muttered silently.

"Yeah." I muttered in agreement. However, that wasn't what I was feeling. My mind kept on screaming that _'no, he's not a jerk!'_ Clearly there was still a part of me that kept forgiving him a thousand times over as if that would somehow bring him back. It never seemed to do justice, though. Thinking about him, my expression softened. "I wonder if he ever came back…"

Noel looked at me oddly. "Caren, if this guy left you once, who's to say that he won't do it again?"

"I don't know…" I replied softly. "Still, it wouldn't hurt to check."

"Then I'll go with you." Noel stated bluntly. Frankly, I was quite surprised by her willingness to go with me. I kind of wanted to go on my own. However, Noel continued speaking to justify herself. "It's my duty as your older sister to protect you, right? Besides, I need to tell this guy that you're one in a million and that he should never have broken your heart like he did."

"I suppose you do." I said through a small laugh. In my mind, I was debating whether or not to show her Mathias' mansion. Was I allowed? Well, she was my sister. I should be able to. "Noel, if I show you something, you must promise never to tell _anyone_ of it, understand?"

Noel smiled genuinely at me. "I promise."

With a sigh, I headed off in the direction of Mathias' mansion. Noel followed me silently, curious as to what I would show her that she had to keep silent about. It wasn't long before we reached the crevice that led to the caverns and it wasn't long before we were swimming through the passage that led to the mansion. When we surfaced, Noel gasped at the sudden change in scenery that I had grown so accustomed to.

"My god, this place is beautiful!" She exclaimed in complete awe. "I didn't know that lilacs could blossom being frozen over!"

"These ones are special. Despite their beauty, however, this place could be so much more beautiful." I mused silently while imagining Mathias standing beside me smiling that perfect smile of his and looking like more of a god than anything else. However, that perfect image of him shattered as I noted how empty the place felt.

I walked somberly towards Mathias' room while Noel followed, mentioning everything that seemed surreal about Mathias' mansion. Not that I blamed her. It was amazing. When we entered Mathias' room, Noel gasped in amazement. I took no notice to the room's architecture like she did. I had been in here several times before. What held my attention was the little white envelope that was on Mathias' bed.

In less than a second, I was on the bed and opening the envelope. I was sure that Noel had noticed my inhuman speed. However, to be careful about keeping my identity a secret wasn't the first thing on my mind. I immediately broke the seal and pulled out the parchment which held Mathias' elegant script. I stared in disbelief before I began to read the words he had written.

_My beloved Caren…_

_I must have the worst timing in the world. I've missed you dearly and when I came back to see you, you've gone off to save your sister. If you are reading this, I shall assume that you have succeeded. For that, I am glad._

_However, the news that I must give you is not the kind that I would like to relay. From what Miranda has told me, you know that our world is in upheaval. Terrible things may be put into act and I fear for your safety. Unfortunately, I have not come to terms with the fact that I may lose you. I don't want to lose you. Simply leaving you to protect you has left a hole unlike any other where my non beating heart should be._

_I've been thinking far too much about you lately and I realized that you may be right about your ignorance to what is going on. I never wanted to say anything to you because I feared your reaction. I feared that you might hate me. However, I've made my decision and I will tell you about what concerns your very life._

_As I've told you before, half vampires are not highly looked on in our world. My father considers half vampires to be a mockery of our race. Every so often, he'll go on a crusade and eliminate every halfblooded vampire that breathes. Unfortunately, I have placed you in this terrible predicament of becoming one of his victims. I really wouldn't be able to bear it if you were to be found by him. This is why I was so angered by Nikademus' visit. The letter that he had brought informed me of this news._

_Caren, I truly am sorry for all that has happened. I wish to atone for what I have done. I wish to see your beautiful face again. Because of this, I advise you to follow Miranda's advice and go back to your kingdom in the Antarctic Ocean. Will you please do that for me? Miranda has joined me for now which means that there is no longer any protection for you from other vampires who would follow my father's law. I'll come back to you when this issue has been dealt with. I promise you this with all my heart, despite the fact that it no longer beats._

_With much love,_

_Mathias_

My eyes were wide as I read the letter. I could feel Noel crawl onto the bed to look over my shoulder but I couldn't react. I didn't react to the fact that she was reading the letter Mathias had wrote that was full of secrets that had to be kept. I didn't react to the fact that Noel would learn of my being a vampire. There was only one thought running through my mind. Mathias had been here. He was here to see me and I wasn't there. I was too busy trying to kill Gaito.

"Caren, are you alright?" I heard Noel ask worriedly.

I didn't respond. I couldn't. My eyes wouldn't remove themselves from Mathias' writing. It was as if they were permanently stuck on Mathias' name, memorizing the curves and sharp areas where Mathias had applied more pressure to the quill he had used. I felt Noel embrace me in a sisterly manner as if I was crying. Wait a minute, I _was_ crying. I could feel moisture running down my cheeks to fall on the parchment in my hands.

"I've taken notice of some things about you that is different from the other mermaid princesses including myself. I've noticed that your eyes change colour when your singing, you move really quickly and you catch onto things that would be difficult for any normal person. Not to mention the incident with Gaito. Is it because of this? Because you're… a vampire?"

I wanted to drown out Noel's words. I had allowed her to find out about vampires. I had let her see the truth that had been written in Mathias' own hand. Oh, Mathias would be furious if he found out. However, I couldn't lie to my sister. It would do no good since she already knew. So, I solemnly nodded in response. I could hear her hold her breath and I felt as if I wanted to disappear. Would she think differently of me now? Would she always take me for the bloodthirsty monster that I had become? I looked up at her with pleading eyes.

"Noel, I am still the same person as I always have. My becoming a vampire hasn't changed that at all. Just promise that you won't tell anyone about this. I didn't want to drag anyone into this. Please…"

Noel looked at me sympathetically. "Caren, this is huge. You know that, right? Still, if you don't want me to say anything then I won't. However, if I am to keep this a secret, I want to know what's going on. I want to be able to help you when I can."

I remained silent for a long time before I finally replied. "What would you like to know?"

"Well," Noel started, "I would like to know when all of this started, who this Mathias is and why he really left you."

"Oh, where to begin…" I pondered aloud while holding my head with my hand. "I guess it started when I found Mathias lingering in one of these caverns. After that, he followed me around for about a week and then brought me here. He had me completely in a trance of some kind and then he got me alone and turned me."

Noel didn't press me on any of the details of my 'death', so I continued. "I fell in love with him. I always thought that we would be the perfect couple. We were even going to save you together. But then… this Nikademus brought him a letter. It was apparently from his father who wants to kill me. Mathias decided to leave without telling me, supposedly for my own protection. He wants me to return to my kingdom and stay there. However, because of what I am, I'll have far too much time on my hands and I'll constantly be worrying about him. Apparently he knows where my kingdom is but no one has informed me as to how he knows. Miranda, Mathias' servant told me that he's been there before but I don't know when that was or why he was even there to begin with. It's kind of driving me insane."

Noel became silent after my explanation. Her eyes were pensive and thoughtful as she contemplated my story. I simply waited for her to reply. The silence was driving me insane so I focused on my sister's heartbeat. It was calm and steady throughout all of what she had just learned. I was surprised that she wasn't freaking out about any of this. She wasn't even worried that I, her younger twin sister, was a monster. Finally, she opened her mouth to speak.

"That is some story. It's hard to think that all of this has happened to you…" She said quietly. Then, she did something completely unexpected. She smiled. "Caren, this whole topic is making you seriously depressed. I say that sometime, the two of us should go on a vacation somewhere cool like… Oh, I dunno… Germany or Paris! What do you think?"

I smiled at her suggestion. "It sounds like a plan."

Actually, getting away and going to Paris or Germany sounded ideal. The shopping there would be fantastic as well. Not to mention that I'd always wanted to see some of the cathedrals there. I had always marveled at neo-gothic architecture although I had never actually been in a church of that magnitude. I had only seen pictures in books about them. However, I still had my kingdom to attend to and get back into order. Noel's plan would have to wait for a while.

"We probably wouldn't be able to do this for a while though. We've been away from our kingdoms for too long. They're probably in chaos." I stated, voicing one of my worries.

Noel nodded in agreement. "Well then, sometime after our kingdoms are organized, we can go to Europe. Deal?"

Noel offered her hand to me to shake if I agreed on her compromise. I gladly accepted her hand and smiled.

"Deal. Now, let's get going. I'd rather not stick around here if the place is going to be empty."

With the arrangement made on our vacation, the two of us slid off of Mathias' bed and headed for the door. It wasn't long before we were back in the ocean and heading off in the directions of our kingdoms. Eventually, Noel and I parted and she swam north to the Arctic Ocean. Now it was my turn to return home. Back home to the Antarctic Ocean. Back to where Mathias would one day come for me. In all this time, I felt as if I've been racing—racing against the northern winds. Now, the race was over and I was finally able to rest.

I was finally able to go home.

--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--

There you have it! The second part in my mini trilogy! Oh, the third part is going to be intense. I did a bit of foreshadowing in this story so, you may have to go back and read a few things. Anyways, I know that some of you are pissed that Mathias was hardly in this story. I really didn't know how to do Noel's rescue if he was still around and this way, you'll be dying to come back and read the third part. I don't know how long the next part will be but... it should be worth the wait. I've had the ideas in my mind for a long time now. I wanted to make it a reality. I'm a little disappointed with how this story sounded so choppy. x.x I suppose that's what I get for writing different parts at different times. Oh well. I got lazy. So sue me. Actually, no, don't sue me. I already lack money and a job hence why I have all this time to write. x.x

Now, I took a hell of a lot of time to write this. In fact, I've been working on this for months. It doesn't take long to write a small review saying that you liked my story or disliked it. Although, I would prefer that if you disliked it, you would give reasons why. I'm open to constructive critisism.

Oh, and before I forget, if I romanized any of the names incorrectly, please let me know so that I can fix it! Well, that's it for now so I'll leave you to review. :3

Til next time, loverlies!


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